wholly  a  quack,"  "wrote  at  length  on  the  macrocosm  and 
microcosm,  and  it  entered  into  the  philosophies  of  the  mystics 
Jacob  Boehme  and  Emmanuel  Swedenborg. 

Allusion  is  made  in  the  last  paragraph  of  the  quotation 
from  the  "  Epistle  of  Isis"  to  the  twelve  signs  of  the  zodiac 
and  their  supposed  influence  on  the  anatomy  of  man;  this 
too  is  a  very  ancient  feature  of  astrology  and  played  an  im- 
portant role  in  the  practice  of  Rudolph's  fortune-tellers.  Its 
foundations  were  laid  by  Chaldean  astronomers,  Hebrew 
sages  and  Greek  philosophers;  Christian  mystics  adopted  it 
and  mediaeval  astrologers  magnified  it  so  that  it  became  a 
persistent  popular  superstition.  The  first  step  in  the  evolution 
of  this  conception  was  taken  more  than  four  thousand  years 
ago,  when  the  star-gazers  of  Babylon  observed  the  circular 
zone  through  which  the  sun  appears  to  pass  in  the  course 
of  a  year,  and  divided  it  into  twelve  constellations,  creating 
what  is  known  as  the  zodiac.  To  these  twelve  divisions 
symbols  were  given  some  of  which  are  said  to  be  Babylonian 
ideographs  of  the  months.  The  astronomers  of  Egypt  adopted 
this  system  and  their  lively  imaginations  peopled  the  constel- 
lations with  genii;  thus  arose  a  symbolism  in  which  each 
group  of  stars  is  likened  to  a  given  animal  or  human  char- 
acter. The  twelve  constellations  and  their  anatomical  associ- 
ations are  quaintly  set  forth  in  the  following  lines: 

The  Head  and  Face  the  Princely  Ram  doth  rule, 

The  Neck  and  Throat  falls  to  the  sullen  Bull 

The  lovely  Twins  guide  Shoulder,  Arm  and  Head, 

The  slow  pac'd  Crab  doth  Breast  and  Spleen  command. 

The  Lion  bold  governs  the  Heart  of  Man. 

The  modest  Maid  doth  on  the  Bowels  scan. 

The  Reins  and  Loins  are  in  the  Ballancc  try'd. 

The  Scorpion  the  Secret  Parts  doth  guide. 

The  Shooting  Horse  lays  claim  to  both  the  Thighs ; 

The  Knees  upon  the  Headstrong  Goat  relies. 

The  Waterman,  he  both  the  Legs  doth  claim, 

The  Fishes  rule  the  Feet  and  meet  the  Ram  again. 

Moore's  Vox.  Stellarum,  1721. 

90 


The  pictorial  representation  of  the  influence  of  the  zodiac 
on  human  anatomy,  well-known  to  every  reader  of  modern 
patent  medicine  almanacs,  was  familiar  to  the  astrologers 
and  occultists  of  the  Hradschin,  having  appeared  as  early  as 
1496  in  the  famous  encyclopedia  "Margarita  Philosophica" 
of  Gregor  Reisch,  and  being  frequently  copied  into  works  on 
medical  astrology,  and  into  almanacs. 

Just  two  years  before  the  death  of  the  Emperor  Rudolph, 
William  Shakespeare  was  writing  the  play  of  Coriolanus ;  in 
this  he  alludes  to  the  picture  of  a  nude  man  surrounded  by 
signs  of  the  zodiac.  Menenius  says  to  Sicinius :  "If  you  see 
this  in  the  map  of  my  microcosm,  follow  it  that  I  am  known 
well  enough  too?" 

Tycho  Brahe  was  of  a  singularly  superstitious  nature, 
producing  timidity;  if  on  leaving  his  house  he  met  an  old 
woman  he  was  accustomed  to  return  home  at  once,  regarding 
the  encounter  as  an  evil  omen ;  if  he  met  a  hare  in  the  fields 
he  thought  it  a  dangerous  sign ;  more  unlucky  still  were  swine, 
and  on  meeting  them  he  used  to  spit,  in  the  same  way  as  did 
many  superstitious  Jews,  to  ward  off  evil  influences.  An  in- 
verted slipper,  salt  spilled  at  table,  or  three  lighted  candles 
on  one  table,  caused  him  great  anxiety,  while  to  sit  down 
thirteen  at  a  meal  was  simply  tempting  Providence.  He  used 
to  relate  to  those  willing  to  listen,  and  this  embraced  every 
one,  that  if  a  twig  was  broken  from  a  cherry-tree  on  Saint 
Barbara's  day  and  watered  daily,  it  would  bear  blossoms  on 
the  succeeding  Christmas;  to  be  lucky  in  gambling  as  well 
as  in  love  he  carried  part  of  a  hangman's  halter  and  a  lapis 
alectorius,  a  stone  about  the  size  of  a  bean  sometimes  found 
in  the  stomach  of  a  fowl. 

"For  worthless  matters  some  are  wondrous  sad, 
Whome  if  I  call  not  vaine  I  must  terme  mad. 
If  that  their  noses  bleed  some  certain  drops, 
And  then  again  upon  the  suddaine  stops, 

91 


•£\*RA 
or  THE 

(   UNIVERSITY  ) 
or 


THE  FOLLIES  OF  SCIENCE 


AT  THE 


COURT  OF  RUDOLPH  II 

1576—1612. 


...BY... 

HENRY  CARRINGTON  BOLTON. 

- 


"QUICUNQUE  VULT  DECIPI,  DECIPIATUR.: 


MILWAUKEE, 

Pharmaceutical  Review  Publishing  Co. 
I9O4. 


Copyrighted,  1904,  by 
H.   CARRINGTON   BOLTON 


•7^ 


'- 


"I 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTBR.  PAGE. 

I.  Two  English  Adventurers 1 

II.  The  Solomon  of  Bohemia 10 

III.  Gold  Alley,  Prague                     .       ..                19 

IV.  Rudolph  and  Doctor  Dee                 ' .        ,        .        .        .        .        .  30 
Y.  Rudolph  and  the  "Golden  Knight" 40 

VI.  Rudolph's  Art-Treasures 52 

VII.  Seeking  the  Philosophers'  Stone     .        .        .        .        . '      .        .  62 

VIII.  The  Man  with  a  Silver  Nose          74 

IX.  Astronomical  Wisdom  and  Astrological  Folly           ...  84 

X.  Rudolph's  Physicians .  96 

XL  The  Rudolphine  Academy  of  Medicine 108 

XII.  Fortunes  and  Misfortunes        ........  120 

XIII.  The  Secret  Symbols  of  Pontanus'  Letter 132 

XIV.  A  Tragedy  in  the  Royal  Mews 143 

XV.  Rudolph's  Dream 156 

XVI.  Magic  and  Sorcery 167 

XVIL  Rudolph  at  Work 182 

XVIIL  Rudolph's  Sovereignty  and  Death         .        .        .        .        .        .  195 

XIX.  Decline  of  the  Follies  of  Science  203 


List  of  Illustrations. 


ATTRACTIVE  INITIALS  AND  TAIL-PIECES  THROUGHOUT. 


Frontispiece.          Brozik's  "Rudolphe  chez  son  alchimiste". 
Title-page.  From  Musaeum  Hermeticum. 

Chapter  I.    Queen  Elizabeth. 

Dr.  John  Dee. 
II.    Bridge  of  Carl  IV,  and  the  Hradschin,  Prague. 

The  Cathedral  of  St.  Veit. 
"  III.    Tenier's  Alchemist. 

Birth    of  the    Philosophers'  Stone   (from  Der  Hermetische 

Triumph) . 

IV.    Rudolph  II,  German  Emperor. 
Dr.  Dee's  Shew  Stone. 
A  Successful  Transmutation. 
V.    Edward  Kelley,  "The  Golden  Knight." 

Kelley's  Horoscope. 
"  VI.    The  Hradschin,  Prague. 

German  Hall. 

"  VII.     Augustus  of  Saxony. 

• 

Leonhard  Thurneisser. 
VIII.    Uraniborg. 

The  Belvedere. 
Monument  to  Tycho  Brahe. 
IX.    John  Kepler. 


Chapter          X.    Dr.  Michael  Maier. 

Preparation  of  Theriac. 
Paracelsus. 

Preparation  of  Guaiac  Remedies  and  their  Administration 
Rathhaus,  Prague. 
"  XI.    Materia  Medica. 

A  Pharmacy 'in  XVI.  Century. 
"  XII.    Kingly  Gold  and  Queenly  Silver. 

Michael  Sendivogius. 
"  XIII.    Distilling  Apparatus. 

An  Alchemist's  Laboratory. 
Key  to  Symbols. 

XIV.    A  Pharmacy  in  XVI.  Century. 
"  XV.    Theosophic  Emblem. 

XVI.    Henricus  Cornelius  Agrippa. 

Astrology,  Alchemy  and  Magic. 
XVII.     Teyn  Kirche. 
XVIII.    Rudolph  II. 


PREFACE. 


I 


N  THE  massive  granite  building  that  houses  the  Lenox 
Librar}^  New  York  City,  there  hangs  an  original  oil  painting 
by  the  Bohemian  artist  Vaczlav  Brozik  entitled:  "Rodolphe 
chez  son  Alchimiste."  The  central  figure  in  this  interesting 
picture  is  that  of  the  alchemist,  portrayed  as  a  tall  old  man  with 
a  bald  head  and  a  long,  white,  pointed  beard,  and  wearing  a  flowing 
robe  fastened  with  a  girdle  about  his  waist.  He  stands  with  his 
back  to  an  alchemical  furnace  surmounted  by  a  hood,  which  is  built 
against  one  of  the  massive  stone  walls  by  the  side  of  a  deep-cut 
window,  that  dimly  lights  a  sombre,  grim-looking  room.  On  his  left 
is  an  anvil,  on  his  right  an  alembic  over  a  small  furnace,  near  by 
stands  chemical  apparatus  of  several  kinds,  and  a  celestial  globe 
while  books  and  manuscripts  lie  in  careless  disorder  on  the  floor. 
The  alchemist's  left  arm  hangs  at  his  side,  his  hand  holding  a  pair 
of  tongs  ;  he  faces  the  Emperor  and  presents  to  him  with  his  right 
hand  a  broken  crucible  containing  in  the  bottom  the  ingot  of  gold 
that  he  has  just  obtained  by  transmutation. 

Rudolph,  arrayed  in  imperial  garments,  seated  in  an  armchair 
with  his  knees  crossed,  looks  at  the  crucible  with  a  stolid  face 
exhibiting  neither  curiosity  nor  astonishment.  His  Majesty  forms 
the  fore-centre  of  a  group  of  ladies  and  gentlemen  of  the  court  ;  on 
his  left  sits  a  richly  attired  lady  who  leans  forward  with  a  move- 
ment of  surprise  ;  behind  him  stands  a  group  of  four  courtiers  and 
one  lady;  in  a  far  corner  are  three  more  persons,  one  examining 
attentively  a  natural  history  specimen.  In  the  rear  of  the  room  is 


seen  a  servant  holding  a  dog.  The  courtiers  are  dressed  in  doublet 
and  hose  with  high-heeled,  low-cut  shoes,  and  carry  swords;  the 
ladies  wear  the  femine  apparel  of  the  sixteeneth  centurj'. 

In  the  following  pages  an  attempt  has  been  made  to  describe 
the  circumstances  that  make  this  picture  historically  accurate,  and 
to  give  some  account  of  the  character  of  the  scientific  atmosphere 
pervading  the  court  of  Rudolph  IT,  Emperor  of  Germany. 

Descriptions  of  persons,  localities  and  events  are  true  to  history, 
but  the  author  has  allowed  himself  the  liberty  of  the  artist  in  using 
the  imagination  in  a  few  instances  to  lighten  up  the  dull  back- 
ground of  hard  facts,  such  for  example  as  the  scene  in  the  cavern 
Chapter  XVI. 


Court  of  IRu&olpb  IL 


UNIVERSITY 


CHAPTER  I. 
TWO  ENGLISH  ADVENTURERS. 

"Learning,  that  cobweb  of  the  brain, 
Profane,  erroneous  and  vain; 
A  trade  of  knowledge  as  replete, 
As  others  are  with  fraud  and  cheat ; 
An  art  t'incumber  gifts  and  wit 
And  render  both  for  nothing  fit." 

— Butler. 

N  THE  reign  of  Queen  Elizabeth  there  lived  at  Mort- 
lake,  on  the  banks  of  the  river  Thames,  a  very 
learned  man  named  John  Dee,  popularly  called 
Doctor  Dee,  who  was  at  the  time  in  which  we  first 
meet  him  about  fifty-six  years  of  age,  and  had  a  great  repu- 
tation in  England  as  a  scholar,  an  astrologer,  an  alchemist 
and  a  necromancer.  In  his  youth  he  had  been  a  tremendously 
hard  student,  first  at  St.  John's  College,  Cambridge,  and 
then  as  a  fellow  of  Trinity,  devoting  eighteen  hours  daily  to 
study,  four  to  sleep,  and  but  two  to  refreshment  and  recrea- 
tion, application  which  if  not  destructive  to  health  could 
hardly  fail  to  lay  the  foundations  of  great  erudition.  When 
twenty  years  old  he  visited  the  Low  Countries,  pursuing  his 
favorite  studies,  mathematics  and  astronomy,  at  the  Uni- 
versity of  Louvain,  and  buying  newly  devised  astronomical 
instruments  of  superior  make ;  later  he  read  lectures  on  Euclid 


at  the  College  of  Rheims,  Paris,  to  very  large  audiences  with 
great  e*clat. 

Returning  to  Mortlake,  Dee  applied  himself  zealously  to 
science,  organizing  in  his  home  an  astronomical  observatory, 
and  a  chemical  laboratory;  collecting  a  great  variety  of 
philosophical  apparatus  as  \vell  as  a  museum  of  curiosities 
in  natural  history;  and  forming  a  library  of  rare  manuscripts 
and  bound  volumes  relating  to  his  pursuits.  He  made  a  name 
by  an  erudite  preface  to  Sir  Henry  Billingsley's  translation 
of  Euclid,  and  proposed  a  plan  for  reforming  the  Gregorian 
Calendar,  which  later  scholars  have  commended;  thereby  be- 
coming so  eminent  in  pure  mathematics  as  to  be  called 
"Nobilis  Mathematicus." 

"He  had  been  long  t' wards  mathematics, 
Optics,  philosophy,  and  statics, 
Magick,  horoscopy,  astrology, 
And  was  an  old  dog  at  physiology." 

Unfortunately  for  his  reputation  with  posterity  this  man 
of  undoubted  intellectual  ability  allowed  his  imagination  to 
dominate  his  scientific  knowledge,  and  he  adopted  the  base- 
less superstitions  of  the  day.  He  applied  his  astronomical 
learning  to  the  fallacies  of  astrological  divination ;  he  worked 
with  furnaces,  alembics  and  chemicals  in  hopes  of  discovering 
the  Universal  Solvent  and  the  Philosophers'  Stone;  his  phi- 
losophy was  imbued  with  the  mysteries  of  the  kabbala,  with 
theosophy  and  with  the  iniquities  of  black  magic;  even  his 
religion  was  contaminated  by  the  doctrines  of  spiritualism 
and  the  practice  of  theurgy.  When  not  absorbed  in  writing 
mathematical  treatises  in  his  library,  or  working  with  sextant 
and  astrolabe  in  his  observatory,  or  blowing  the  coals  under 
cucurbits  in  his  athanor,  Dee  was  busy  making  amulets  and 
talismans,  and  receiving  clients  of  every  station  in  life  from 
peasantry  to  royalty,  who  flocked  to  him  to  learn  their 


QUEEN  ELIZABETH. 


fortunes,  to  have  their  horoscopes  made,  and  to  ascertain  by 
magical  arts  lucky  days  as  well  as  unlucky  ones,  for  all 
undertakings  great  and  small.  In  return  for  these  services 
his  credulous  visitors  seldom  failed  to  leave  in  his  hands  silver 
and  gold  coins,  of  which,  however,  he  saw  fewer  than  his 
household  and  comfort  required. 
He  was  one  of  those  who : 

"Deal  in  Destiny's  dark  counsels, 
And  sage  opinions  of  the  moon  sell; 
To  whom  all  people,  far  and  near, 
On  deep  importances  repair, 
When  brass  and  pewter  hap  to  stray, 
And  linen  slinks  out  of  the  way." 

Like  many  learned  men  in  the  Middle  Ages  Dr.  Dee  was 
supposed  to  be  in  league  with  evil  spirits,  and  he  was  regarded 
by  his  neighbors  and  enemies  as  a  dangerous  man.  His  evil 
reputation  for  sorcery  more  than  once  brought  him  into  con- 
flict with  the  officers  of  the  law ;  under  Queen  Mary  he  was 
accused  of  heresy  and  of  attempting  to  injure  the  Princess 
Elizabeth  by  witchcraft;  being  cast  into  a  dungeon  he  saw 
with  horror  his  cell-mate  dragged  forth  to  perish  at  the  stake, 
but  he  was  leniently  treated  at  his  trial  and  escaped  \vith  a 
mild  sentence.  On  the  accession  ot  Elizabeth  to  the  throne? 
Dee  was  consulted  by  the  Earl  of  Leicester  to  secure  a  luck} 
day  for  her  coronation,  and  the  result  of  his  prognostication 
seems  to  have  won  her  good  will :  for  she  afterwards  became 
an  appreciative  client ;  she  invited  him  to  court  for  consul 
tations,  and  even  visited  Dee's  modest  dwelling;  though 
naturally  penurious,  her  Majesty  occasionally  gave  sub- 
stantial proofs  of  her  confidence,  in  pieces  of  gold.  The 
Doctor  was  at  this  time  a  very  handsome  man,  tall  and 
slender,  very  fair,  \vith  a  sanguine  complexion  and  a  long 
pointed  beard,  which,  as  he  grew  older,  acquired  a  snow-white 


color  and  a  silky  texture;  perhaps  his  attractive  presence 
contributed  to  the  pleasure  that  the  Maiden  Queen  found  in 
his  society. 

On  one  occasion  Elizabeth  invited  Dee  to  Greenwich  and 
condescended  to  become  his  pupil;  shortly  before,  he  had 
published  a  book  entitled  "Monas  Hieroglyphica"  (Antwerp, 
1564),  which  he  dedicated  to  Maximilian  II,  and  he  had 
made  the  long  journey  to  Presburg  in  Hungary  to  present  a 
copy  in  person  to  the  Emperor;  this  extraordinary  treatise 
was  the  subject  of  his  conference,  at  the  Queen's  command 
he  revealed  to  her  some  of  its  mysteries  and  hidden  secrets 
during  a  three  day's  visit  at  the  royal  seat.  If  Elizabeth 
was  able  to  comprehend  anything  whatever  of  this  enig- 
matical, preposterous  jargon,  she  must  be  credited  with  extra- 
ordinary intellectual  penetration.  At  another  time  the  Queen, 
accompanied  by  lords  and  ladies  in  waiting,  visited  Mort- 
lake,  with  the  intention  of  examining  Dee's  famous  library, 
but  on  reaching  the  house  she  learned  to  her  dismay  that  he 
had  buried  his  wife  only  a  few  hours  before,  and  she  refused 
to  enter,  but  desired  Dee  to  show  her  his  marvellous  magic 
glass;  this  he  did,  and  explained  to  her  Majesty  the  manner 
of  using  it  to  read  spirit-communications  and  to  perceive 
apparitions. 

This  visit  was  made  on  the  10th  of  March^574/5.  Two 
V^  years  later  the  appearance  of  a  brilliant  comet  in  the  starry 
heavens  created  consternation  at  the  English  court,  and  the 
Queen,  then  at  Richmond,  sent  for  Doctor  Dee  to  divine  the 
meaning  of  this  portent,  which  he  did  to  her  satisfaction. 
Not  long  after,  a  small  wax  image  of  the  Queen,  having  pins 
stuck  into  the  breast,  was  found  in  Lincoln's  Inn  Fields,  and 
Dee  was  hurriedly  summoned  to  the  palace  to  ward  off  by 
counter-spells  the  mischief  that  this  was  believed  to  work  on 
the  person  of  her  Majesty. 


"The  slie  inchanter,  when  to  -work  his  will 
And  secret  wrong  on  some  forspoken  wight, 
Frames  waxe,  in  form  to  represent  aright 
The  poore  unwitting  wretch  he  meanes  to  kill ; 
And  prickes  the  image,  fram'd  by  magick's  skill, 
Whereby  to  vex  the  partie  day  and  night." 

The  learned  Doctor's  profound  studies  of  the  Kabbala, 
divinations  and  occult  sciences  seem  to  have  disordered  his 
intellect;  for  one  day  while  engaged  in  earnest  prayer  he 
imagined  that  the  angel  Uriel  appeared  to  him  and  promised 
his  friendship  and  his  assistance  in  divining  the  future;  at 
the  same  time  Uriel  gave  him  a  highly  polished  crystal  by 
means  of  which  he  would  be  able  to  hold  communications 
with  celestial  spirits.  By  gazing  intently  at  this  crystal,  or 
"shew-stone,"  as  he  called  it,  Dee  saw  on  its  surface  floating 
visions  of  unutterable  things,  and  heard  angelic  voices  ad- 
dressing him.  These  visions  were  vague,  mysterious  and 
usually  inscrutable;  a  little  maiden  eight  or  nine  years  old, 
who  said  her  name  was  Madini,  and  conversed  in  Greek  as 
well  as  English,  frequently  appeared  to  him  talking  indescrib- 
able nonsense.  Galveh,  Murifri,  Michael,  Gabriel  and  Raphael 
were  on  a  friendly  footing  with  Dee,  who  wrote  out  their 
spiritual  messages;  these  were  commonly  ridiculous  rhap- 
sodies, and  sometimes  they  were  fanciful,  unmeaning  arrange- 
ments of  numbers,  or  arbitrary  combinations  of  letters. 
Besides  personages,  the  crystal  revealed  scenes  and  objects  of 
enigmatical  character;  on  the  13th  November,  1583,  Dee  re- 
corded the  following:—  "At  length  appeared  a  sword,  two- 
edged,  fiery,  or  rather  bloody,  and  a  bunch  of  rags  hanging 
at  the  top  of  it.  The  sword  stood  upright,  and  a  voice  an- 
nounced: 'So  be  it  O  Lord,  for  Thou  art  mighty;  be  it  SQ. 
unto  them,'  and  then  the  sword  shook  mightily." 

Unable  to  remember  these  apparitions  and  these  celestial 
communications,  Dee  decided  to  employ  the  services  of  a 

5 


secretary  to  record  them,  and  he  secured  a  young  notary, 
Edward  Kelley  b3'  name,  who  was  installed  in  his  "mystical 
study"  as  "skryer,"  or  clairvoyant,  while  Dee  wrote  down 
the  "angellical"  revelations. 

Crystal-gazing  is  now  a  recognized  agent  of  auto-h3rpno- 
tism,  and  at  first  Dee  was  probabhr  self-deceived;  but  the 
young  notary  was  an  unscrupulous  knave  who  found  it 
profitable  to  impose  on  the  credulous  Doctor  and  he  soon 
excelled  him  in  "skrying"  spirit  communications. 

Kelley,  whose  black  skull-cap  scarcely  concealed  his 
J  mutilated  ears,  a  souvenir  of  punishment  for  forgery,  was 
experienced  in  the  tricks  of  alchemists  and  the  nummeries  of 
necromancy,  and  he  obtained  a  masterful  hold  on  the  super- 
stitious Dee,  who  abandoned  his  serious  studies  and  spent 
months  and  3rears  over  the  shew  -stone ;  the  results  of  this 
misplaced  devotion  were  afterwards  published  by  Dr.  Meric 
Casaubon  in  a  folio  volume  entitled:  "A  True  and  Faithful 
Relation  of  what  passed  for  many  years  between  Dr.  John 
Dee  and  some  Spirits,"  (London,  1659),  and  it  is  hard  to 
in  print  a  more  amazing  farrago  of  nonsense. 

Dr.  Dee  was  a  truly  devout  worshipper  of  God,  and  in 
'True  and  Faithful  Relation,"  he  always  began  his 
!  crystal-vision  with  pious  prayers  to  the  Almighty,  but  as 
Dr.  Casaubon  remarks,  Dee  "mistook  false  lying  Spirits  for 
Angels  of  Light,  the  Divel  of  Hell  for  the  God  of  Heaven.'' 
And  as  Butler  has  said: 

"Kelley  did  all  his  feats  upon 
The  Devil's  looking  glass,  a  stone." 

The  fame  of  Dee  and  Kelley  as  magicians  spread  rapidly, 
and  was  enhanced  by  their  claims  to  success  in  the  manu- 
facture of  gold  from  base  metals,  a  claim  that  ill-accorded 
with  the  chronic  poverty  in  Dee's  household.  The  Philo- 
sophers' stone  used  in  transmutation  had  been  found  by 


Di 
fl  liis    "- 


DR.  JOHN    DEE. 


digging  in  the  ruins  of  Glastonbury  Abbey,  together  with  a 
book    explaining   the    process,    written  by  St.  Dunstan,  the 

same  :— 

"who  in  his  cell's  repose 
Plucked  the  devil  by  the  nose." 

Among  the  visitors  to  the  now  celebrated  alchemists  came 
a  Prince  from  distant  Poland,  Albert  Laski  by  name,  who 
was  visiting  the  Elizabethan  Court  with  great  pomp,  and 
incidentally  seeking  for  an  adept  in  transmutation  by  whose 
aid  he  hoped  to  retrieve  the  fortune  wasted  through  extra- 
vagancy and  folly.  Being  introduced  to  Dr.  Dee  by  the  Earl 
of  Leicester,  to  whose  care  the  Pole  had  been  committed  by 
her  Majesty,  he  invited  himself  to  dine  with  the  famous 
magician;  Dee's  poverty  was  however  so  great  that  he  was 
about  to  sell  some  silver-plate  to  provide  an  entertainment 
suitable  for  so  exalted  a  personage ;  but  this  becoming  known 
to  the  Queen,  she  sent  him  a  present  of  forty  golden  angels. 

At  the  feast  the  Polish  nobleman  was  captivated  by  the 
learning  of  Dee,  and  impressed  by  the  impudent  claims  of 
Kelley ;  he  admitted  his  belief  in  the  Elixir  Vitae,  the  Philo- 
sophers' stone,  and  in  other  popular  chimeras,  showing  him- 
self so  gullible  that  the  English  adventurers  conceived  a  plan 
to  wrest  from  him  a  share  of  his  supposed  wealth.  They  dis- 
coursed in  low  tones,  with  mysterious  hints,  of  the  magical 
powers  of  the  shew-stone,  and  the  credulous  Count  besought 
the  favor  of  initiation  into  its  secrets.  After  delays  and 
postponements  calculated  to  stimulate  curiosity,  a  seance  was 
arranged;  Kelley  sitting  at  a  distance  from  the  marvellous 
crystal,  gazed  intently  at  it  and  spasmodically  uttered  aloud 
the  messages  he  claimed  to  hear  and  described  the  apparitions 
he  saw,  while  Dee,  at  a  lighted  table,  transcribed  the  spiritual 
communications,  the  Count  being  allowed  to  sit  in  a  corner 
of  the  darkened  room.  Amid  an  incoherent  medley  of  ab- 

7 


surdities,  the  spirits  revealed  in  broken  sentences  a  future  for 
Laski  that  delighted  and  fascinated  him ;  they  prophesied 
that  he  should  become  the  fortunate  possessor  of  the  Elixir 
of  Life,  and  that  he  would  succeed  to  the  throne  of  Poland, 
becoming  rich,  illustrious  and  victorious  over  the  enemies  of 
that  kingdom : —  all  of  which  could  only  be  accomplished  by 
the  cooperation  of  Dee,  the  Skryer  and  the  shew-stone. 

This  bold  scheme  of  the  Englishmen  met  with  great  suc- 
cess, and  having  aroused  the  impatient  ambition  of  the 
credulous  Pole,  he  invited  them  to  visit  him  at  his  estate 
near  Cracow.  Dee  being  involved  in  debt,  and  threatened 
with  civil  processes,  gladly  consented,  and  in  September, 
1583,  the  Count,  accompanied  by  the  Doctor  and  his  family, 
Kelley  with  his  wife  and  his  brother,  as  well  as  a  whole 
retinue  of  servants,  embarked  for  the  continent.  They 
travelled  in  great  style,  by  the  way  of  Liibeck  and  Hamburg, 
and  after  four  months  reached  the  princely  estate  in  Poland. 
Meanwhile  the  "angellical  stone"  was  not  allowed  to  gather 
moss,  being  brought  out  at  each  of  the  resting  places  of  the 
travellers,  and  consulted  for  the  enlightenment  and  mystifi- 
cation of  their  noble  host. 

Arrived  at  Cracow  the  Englishmen  established  themselves 
leisurely  in  luxurious  quarters,  and  month  after  month  passed 
without  their  showing  any  disposition  to  labor  at  trans- 
mutation; the  Count  urged  action,  but  the  needed  materials 
and  apparatus  were  difficult  to  procure,  the  proper  con- 
junction of  the  planets  had  not  taken  place,  and  certain 
operations  once  begun  required  seven  times  seven  weeks  for 

( their  accomplishment.  To  satisfy  the  impatient  Pole,  how- 
ever, Kelley  arranged  a  demonstration,  and  in  the  presence 

.'!  of  their  host,  with  the  aid  of  a  double-bottomed  crucible, 
lined  with  wax  in  which  gold-filings  were  concealed,  the  adept 
in  trickery  performed  the  feat  of  transmuting  quicksilver  into 


the  precious,  coveted,  yellow  metal,  that  withstood  the  tests 
of  the  Cracow  goldsmiths. 

Enormous  sums  of  money  were  drawn  out  of  the  coffers  ; 
of  the  Count,  who  was  obliged  to  sell  a  portion  of  his  estates  ' 
"to  find  aliment  for  the  hungry  crucibles  of  Dee  and  Kelley  i 
and  the  no  less  hungry  stomachs  of  their  wives  and  families."  ; 
When  Laski  showed  signs  of  discouragement  Kelley  arranged 
a   new  imposture,   and  thus  the  clever  swindlers  prolonged   : 
their    stay    in    Poland.     After    many    months,    however,    the 
Count  realized  that  the  alchemists  consumed  far  more  gold 
than  they  produced,  and  he  urged  them  to   make  a  visit  to 
Prague,  where  the  wealthy  patron  of  alchemists,  astrologers 
and  artists,  the  Emperor  Rudolph  II,  held  his.  court.  Furnished 
with  letters  of  introduction  and  a  safe-conduct,   Dee,   Kelley, 
his  brother,  and  a  servant  named  Hilton,  bid  their  host  fare- 
well   and    proceeded    through    Cracow    to    the    Capital    of 
Bohemia,  which  they  reached,  after  an  eight  da3rs  journey  in 
carriages,  on  August  ninth,  1584. 


CHAPTER  II. 


THE  SOLOMON  OF  BOHEMIA. 

"He  never  said  a  foolish  thing 
And  never  did  a  wise  one." 

IN  A  BOLD  rocky  height  overhanging  a  beautiful 
\vooded  ravine  on  the  one  side,  and  towering  above 
the  river  Moldau  on  the  other,  stands  a  group  of 
ancient  edifices  comprising  a  fortress,  several 
palaces  and  churches,  which  together  with  minor  buildings 
lining  steep,  narrow  and  crooked  streets,  form  the  quarter  of 
Prague  known  as  the  Hradschin.  On  this  noble  site  royal 
castles  have  stood  for  more  than  a  thousand  years,  and  one 
of  the  earliest  Christian  churches  of  Bohemia  was  erected  here 
in  the  year  874.  Most  imposing  in  appearance,  at  the  time 
of  which  we  write,  was  an  ancient  palace  with  an  ornate 
fa£ade  and  a  dome  at  each  corner,  the  residence  of  the  ex- 
tremely rich  and  influential  Prince  William  von  Rosenberg, 
Knight  of  the  Golden  Fleece,  a  magnate  of  such  high  degree 
that  when  he  was  Ambassador  to  Poland  he  had  been  offered 
the  throne  of  that  country,  and  under  Rudolph  he  filled  a 
most  important  imperial  office.  This  palace  was  connected 
by  an  underground,  secret  passage  with  the  royal  castle, 
partly  for  the  convenience  of  the  reigning  monarch  who  se- 
cured thereby  a  private  exit  in  case  of  siege,  and  partly  on 
account  of  the  imperial  bureau  of  finance  which  had  occupied 
a  portion  of  the  building  since  the  destructive  fire  of  1541. 

10 


vT*«A 
or  THE 

[  UNIVERSITY  ) 

OF 


Near  the  Rosenberg  palace  stood  two  churches;  the  older 
was  All  Souls,  founded  by  Ottakar  II,  enlarged  by  Carl  IV, 
and  after  the  great  fire  restored  by  Rudolph's  sister  Elizabeth,  ; 
the  widow  of  Charles  IX,  of  France.  The  other  church  was 
dedicated  to  St.  George  and  was  recognizable  by  its  lofty  twin 
towers;  the  interior  was  richly  decorated  in  Byzantine  style, 
and  its  cloisters  connected  with  the  Benedictine  Convent 
adjoining.  The  nuns  of  this  convent  were  all  of  noble  blood 
and  enjoyed  great  privileges,  the  Abbess  having  the  right  to 
crown  the  Queens  of  Bohemia,  a  right  last  exercised  on  the 
wife  of  Maximilian  II,  Rudolph's  mother. 

The  Royal  Castle  built  in  1333  by  the  Emperor  Carl  IV 
in  imitation  of  the  Louvre  at  Paris,  enlarged  and  beautified 
by  successive  monarchs,  was  almost  destroyed  in  1541  by 
the  conflagration  that  ravaged  the  Hradschin;  it  was,  how- 
ever, restored  and  at  the  en-d  of  the  sixteenth  century  consti- 
tuted a  magnificent  structure.  Its  massive  walls  were  inter- 
rupted at  intervals  by  projecting  towers,  the  oldest  being  the 
square  Black  Tower  of  hewn  stone,  a  relic  of  Wenzel's  reign 
(1378 — 1400).  The  upper  floors  of  this  tower  served  as  a 
prison  for  political  offenders,  and  in  the  depths  below  stood 
that  horrible  instrument  of  death  facetiously  called  the  "Iron 
Maiden."  Conspicuous  also  were  the  round  White  Tower 
known  as  "Mihulka,"  and  the  "Daliborka,"  so  named  from 
the  first  prisoner  "Dalibor"  confined  within  its  walls.  Of  evil 
repute  was  the  terrible  Hunger  Tower  with  the  underground 
cells  and  oubliettes  that  rarely  surrendered  their  inmates  alive. 
Close  to  the  Royal  Castle  stood  the  Cathedral  of  St.  Veit 
with  its  stately  steeple. 

Within  the  fortified  enclosure  was  the  princely  residence 
of  the  Kings  of  Bohemia  and  Emperors  of  Germany  ;  spacious 
apartments  for  a  luxurious  Court  and  for  entertainment  of 
noble  guests  on  a  grand  scale.  Of  these  the  most  magnificent 

11 


were  the  Spanish  Hall,  the  German  Hall,  and  the  Wladislaw 
Hall  of  such  huge  dimensions  that  within  it  tournaments 
had  once  been  held.  The  windows  of  the  Castle  looked  out 
upon  the  spires  of  the  ancient  church  of  St.  George,  and 
beyond  these  over  a  beautiful,  highly  cultivated  garden  on 
one  side,  and  over  the  picturesque  city  of  Prague  on  the  other. 
A  covered  passage  led  from  the  palace  to  the  gardens  situated 
at  the  bottom  of  a  deep  ravine. 

Monarch  of  this  regal  residence  and  living  within  its 
bounds  from  choice  was  one  of  the  most  interesting  and 
eccentric  princes  of  Europe,  Rudolph  II,  German  Emperor. 
Rudolph  was  born  in  Vienna,  July  18th,  1552,  being  the 
oldest  son  of  Emperor  Maximilian  II ;  at  the  age  of  eleven 
his  father  sent  him  to  the  court  of  his  bigoted,  gloomy,  man- 
hating  uncle,  Philip  II  of  Spain,  'who  had  recently  removed 
his  royal  residence  from  Toledo  to  Madrid.  Here  the  young 
Prince  remained  eight  years  receiving  his  education  at  the 
hands  of  Spanish  Jesuits,  and  absorbing  by  contact  with  his 
surroundings  the  morose,  intolerant  nature  of  his  fanatical 
uncle,  and  laying  the  foundations  of  the  hypochondria  and 
unhappy  distrust  of  mankind  that  darkened  his  whole  life. 
At  the  age  of  nineteen  he  returned  to  Vienna ;  some  authori- 
ties say  he  was  attacked  with  homesickness,  which  does  not 
seem  likely  to  have  seized  so  young  a  boy  after  eight  years 
absence;  others  assert  he  was  recalled  owing  to  amorous 
intrigues  with  the  fair  and  frail  ladies  of  the  dissolute  Spanish 
court.  One  year  later  he  was  crowned  King  of  Hungary , 
three  years  later  he  became  King  of  Bohemia,  and  on  the 
death  of  his  father  in  1576  he  succeeded  to  the  throne  of 
Germany.  Although  only  twenty-four  years  of  age  he  despised 
the  gay  and  brilliant  life  of  the  Viennese  Capital,  and  retired 
to  Prague  taking  up  his  residence  in  the  austere  Hradschiner 
Castle.  Here  he  soon  wearied  of  the  cares  of  State,  and  al- 

12 


though  the  Empire  was  disturbed  by  dissensions  within  and 
attacked  by  enemies  without,  he  threw  upon  his  Ministers 
and  later  upon  his  brothers,  the  management  of  imperial 
affairs.  Always  taciturn  and  morose,  he  was  attacked  by 
hypochondriacal  moods  at  whicli  time  he  refused  audience  to 
foreign  ambassadors  and  even  drove  his  Ministers  from  his 
presence.  Courtiers  wishing  to  secure  favors  from  this  ec- 
centric Emperor  sometimes  addressed  him  when  he  was  visit- 
ing the  royal  stables,  as  he  was  then  apt  to  be  in  a  com- 
plaisant mood.  Withdrawing  more  and  more  from  executive 
functions  he  was  nevertheless  a  very  busy  man,  devoting  him- 
self with  great  zeal  to  the  accumulation  of  treasures  of  art 
and  to  the  cultivation  of  science  as  he  understood  the  term. 

"Nicht  so  wie  Max  war  dessen  Sohn, 

Der  nun  be'stieg  den  Kaiserthron ; 

Das  Reich  bekiimmert  ihn  nicht  sehr, 

Sterndeuterei  bei  weitem  mehr 

Und  ebenso — ,  es  ist  zum  Lachen — 

Die  Kunst,  aus  Steinen  Gold  zu  mac  hen." 

Rudolph  did  not  pursue  science  for  the  purpose  of  in- 
creasing knowledge,  nor  did  he  collect  paintings,  statuary, 
antiquities  and  natural  curiosities  with  a  view  to  stimulating 
progress  in  art  and  archaeology;  astrology,  alchemy  and 
magic  were  to  his  superstitious  mind  true  sciences  of  pre- 
eminent importance;  charlatans  claiming  knowledge  of  the 
Philosophers*  Stone  and  the  Elixir  of  Life,  of  divination  by 
celestial  signs,  and  pretending  to  cure  diseases  by  Potable  gold 
or  by  tincture  of  pearls,  were  more  cordially  welcomed  at' 
the  Hradschin  than  genuine  scholars  in  chemistry,  astronomy 
and  medicine.  Rudolph's  intellectual  bias  and  peculiar  dis- 
position made  him  the  ready  prey  of  swindlers  and  tricksters 
of  every  nation  who  flocked  to  Prague  and  with  impudent 
assurance  obtained  entrance  to  the  inner  circles  of  the  itn- 

13 


perial  court;  some  by  flattery  and  skill  in  catering  to  the 
taste  of  his  Majesty  became  dignitaries  of  the  palace  as  well 
as  trusted  advisors  on  all  matters  pertaining  to  science  and 
art.  Courtier-like  these  arrant  knaves  addressed  the  Emperor 
as  the  "Solomon  of  Bohemia,"  and  as  the  "Hermes  Trisme- 
gistus  of  Germany." 

A  zealous  attachment  to  the  pseudo-sciences  was  not  re- 
garded as  inconsistent  with  learning,  true  piety  and  exalted 
rank,  and  Rudolph  had  many  precedents  among  the  crowned 
heads  of  earlier  and  contemporary  times.  Even  as  early  as 
1150  the  Sultan  Kalid,  of  Egypt,  gathered  a  number  of  al- 
chemists at  his  court,  and  he  himself  composed  hermetic 
treatises  still  extant.  Alphonso  X,  King  of  Castile,  Robert 
Bruce  of  Scotland,  and  Henry  VI,  of  England,  are  credited 
with  belief  in  and  practice  of  the  mystic  art ;  the  latter  being 
greatly  in  need  of  money  issued  four  successive  decrees  com- 
manding all  nobles,  doctors,  professors  and  priests  to  conduct 
experiments  in  transmutation  with  a  view  to  discharging  the 
nation's  debt.  In  a  patent  dated  15th  September,  1449,  King 
Henry  states  that  he  includes  priests  in  his  decree  because 
their  experience  in  the  miracle  of  transubstantiation  well 
qualified  them  for  success  in  transmutation.  Edward  VI  of 
England,  and  more  than  one  Pope  delighted  in  alchemical 
investigations,  and  Frederick  III  of  Germany,  who  preceded 
Rudolph  by  two  centuries,  anticipated  him  in  the  neglect 
of  affairs  of  state  for  love  of  the  pseudo-science ;  he  surrendered 
his  throne  to  his  son  Maximilian  and  retired  to  Linz,  where 
he  devoted  himself  to  astrology,  alchemy  and  botany  until 
his  death  in  1493.  Of  Augustus,  Elector  of  Saxony,  more 
will  be  told  in  another  place. 

As  became  the  wearer  of  the  crown  of  Germany, 
Rudolph  maintained  a  royal  retinue  of  knights,  noblemen, 
officers  of  the  guard,  gentlemen  of  the  privy  chamber,  stewards, 

14 


THE    CATHEDRAL   OF   ST.   VEIT. 


s 

cup-bearers,  carvers  and  servers;  there  were  also  physicians, 
almoners,  librarians  and  curators  of  the  Cabinet  of  curiosi- 
ties and  of  the  Art-gallery.  In  addition  to  these  functionaries 
he  surrounded  himself  with  retainers  whose  duties  and  occu- 
pations were  in  harmony  with  his  personal  interests;  such 
were  the  court  artists,  musicians,  poets,  mathematicians, 
archaeologists,  astronomers  and  alchemists.  These  he  esteemed 
in  proportion  to  their  success  in  impressing  him  with  exalted 
ideas  of  their  esoteric  knowledge ;  the  librarian  held  his  post 
not  only  for  his  book-learning,  but  because  he  had  discovered 
perpetual  motion;  those  physicians  were  most  successful  in 
establishing  intimate  relations  with  his  Majesty  who  dis- 
coursed most  learnedly  on  theosophy  and  magical  cures,  and 
promised  most  confidently  genuine  panaceas  for  all  diseases; 
the  eminent  astronomer  John  Kepler  was  never  quite  enough 
of  an  astrologer  to  please  this  superstitious  Prince. 

Philosophy  was  not  altogether  neglected  by  the  encyclo- 
paedic Emperor ;  he  studied  the  extravagant  tenets  of  theo- 
sophy with  his  young  Secretary,  Dr.  Michael  Maier,  and  the  | 
mysteries  of  the  Kabbala  with  the  venerable  Rabbi  Bezalel  / 
Loew.    This  master  in  Israel  was  as  pious  and  charitable  as  * 
he  was  learned ;  he  was  beloved  of  the  common  people  for 
his   unselfish   benevolence   and    admired    by  scholars  for  his 
proficiency  in  medicine,  physics,  mathematics,  astronomy,  as 
well  as  for  his  knowledge  of  the  Talmud.    Modestly  holding 
the  position  of  leader  in  Jewish  circles,  he  was  regarded  as 
the  oracle  of  Hebrew  savants  and  a  father  to  the  poverty- 
pinched  residents  of  the  Ghetto.    Although  Catholic  influence 
was  predominant  at  the  court,    the   pious  Rabbi  was  ever 
welcomed  by  the    Emperor    as    the   great   expositor   of  the 
Kabbala,  and  it  was  no  fault  of  his  that  a  family  intrigue,    f  *? 
eventually  brought  great  sorrow  to  both. 

To  enumerate  the  host  of  minor  dependants  in  the  im- 

15 


perial  service  would  be  profitless;  they  were  employed  in  the 
laboratories,  the  observatory,  the  art-gallery,  the  museum, 
the  stables,  the  menagerie  and  the  botanic  gardens ;  all  these 
found  an  asylum  either  in  the  Hradschin  or  in  the  city  across 
the  Moldau;  many  received  small  stipends,  while  a  favored 
few  resided  within  the  precints  of  the  royal  palace,  receiving 
daily  bounty  from  the  imperial  kitchens  and  cellars. 

Next  to  science  and  art,  Rudolph  was  most  attached  to 
his  stables  and  to  his  pleasure-gardens.  The  stables,  situated 
on  the  ground-floor  of  one  of  the  wings  of  the  huge  palace, 
beneath  the  workshops  of  the  stone-polishers  and  the  art 
rooms,  were  filled  with  noble  horses  of  many  races;  to  some 
of  these  four-le*gged  pets  Rudolph  gave  the  names  of  certain 
two-footed  darlings  who  resided  in  the  Castle.  Exhibitions 
of  the  beauty  and  intelligence  of  the  horses  and  of  the  skill 
of  their  riders  were  occasionally  given  in  an  immense  covered 
riding-hall,  fitted  up  with  galleries  and  a  royal  box. 

Beyond  the  mews,  in  a  beautifully  planned  pleasure- 
garden,  flourished  a  profusion  of  exquisite  flowers  of  ever}' 
clime,  protected  in  winter  by  removal  to  hot-houses ;  here  the 
first  tulips  seen  in  Europe  were  cultivated,  brought  by  an 
imperial  ambassador  from  the  Orient,  many  individuals  cost- 
ing more  than  the  plants  of  an  entire  garden.  The  first  tulip 
that  bloomed  in  this  lovely  spot,  the  Emperor,  in  a  rare 
poetic  mood,  christened  "Maria,"  after  his  much-loved  Mother. 
Opposite  the  grim  Black  Tower  was  a  conservatory  in  which 
were  planted  fig-trees,  oranges,  lemons,  pomegranates  and 
peaches,  as  well  as  palms  and  tree-ferns  from  the  tropics.  In 
a  raised  parterre  bright  colored  blossoms  in  the  green  grass 
formed  the  letters  of  Rudolph's  enigmatic  device:  — 

A  D  S  I  T 
which  is  said  to  signify:  — 

"A  Domino  Salus  In  Tribulatione." 


16 


Several  fountains  with  marble  basins  and  artistic  figures 
spouting  crystal  water,  as  well  as  statues,  columns  and 
antiques  ornamented  this  attractive  "Lust-Garten." 

Near  the  bottom  of  the  natural  slope  was  a  group  of 
strongly  built,  low-roofed  huts,  open  on  one  side  and  fitted 
with  stout  iron  gratings,  in  which  were  confined  wild  animals 
from  Asia,  Africa,  and  even  from  distant  America;  lions,  tigers, 
leopards,  panthers,  bears  and  other  savage  beasts.  The 
custom  of  keeping  a  majestic  lion  in  a  cage  in  this  locality 
had  existed  from  the  fourteenth  century,  and  the  live  beast 
was  regarded  as  a  symbol  of  the  heraldic  lion  011  the  imperial 
arms,  just  as  bears  are  seen  to-day  at  Berne,  preserved  at 
the  cost  of  the  Swiss  canton.  One  of  the  lions  born  in  cap- 
tivity had  been  tamed  and  trained  when  a  cub  by  Rudolph 
himself,  and  was  permitted  to  prowl  around  the  workshops 
under  his  master's  control  to  the  great  alarm  of  his  attendants 
and  to  the  consternation  of  the  visitors ;  this  baby  lion  was 
named  O-takar. 

In  the  neighborhood  of  the  animal  hotises  was  a  larger 
building  with  a  \vire-net  front,  filled  with  parrots  and  parro- 
quets  whose  brilliant  rainbow  plumage  was  as  attractive  to 
the  eyes  as  their  incessant  chatter  and  shrill  screeching  was 
offensive  to  the  ears.  This  menagerie  was  founded  by 
Maximilian  II  and  became  under  Rudolph  the  finest  in  all 
Europe. 

Overlooking  this  well  kept  garden,  on  a  height  opposite 
the  Castle,  was  the  ornate  building  erected  by  Ferdinand  I, 
known  as  the  Belvedere,  a  choice  gem  among  the  imperial 
edifices.  Within  its  highly  decorated  walls  a  grand  staircase 
led  to  a  magnificent  hall  crowded  with  pictures,  statuary, 
reliefs  and  casts.  Rudolph,  who  had  constructed  a  covered 
passage  leading  from  his  private  apartments  in  the  palace  to 
the  pleasure-garden,  was  accustomed  to  spend  much  time  in 

17 


the  sumptuous  Belvedere;  here  he  amused  himself  painting  in 
oil,  polishing  gems,  or  studying  his  favorite  science  astrononry 
under  the  guidance  of  his  salaried  observers. 

JSuch  were  the  surroundings  of  the  remarkable  monarch 
to  whom  the  two  English  adventurers,  John  Dee  and  Edward 
Kelley,  addressed  themselves  in  search  of  favors  and  fortune. 


18 


CHAPTER  III. 


GOLD    ALLEY. 

They  speken  faste  of  thilke  stone, 

But  how  to  make  it  now  wot  none, 

After  the  true  experience. 

And  nathelcss  great  diligence 

They  setten  up  thilke  dede, 

And  spillen  more  than  thei  spede. 

For  alway  thei  fynden  a  lette 

Which  bringeth  in  poverte  and  dette 

To  him  that  riche  were  tofore 

The  losse  is  had,  the  lucre  is  lore. 

To  gette  a  pound  thei  spenden  fyve 

I  know  not  how  such  a  craft  shal  thryve. 

Gower,  Confessio  Amantis. 

ARD  by  the  cloisters  of  St.  George's  Church  in  the 
Hradschin  quarter  of  Prague,  ran  a  narrow  steep 
street,  no  wider  than  an  alley  of  a  modern  town 
and  not  half  so  clean,  lined  with  small  insignificant 
houses,  which  were  occupied  largely  by  the  alchemists  and 
occultists  who  were  attracted  from  near  and  far  by  the  pre- 
dilections and  liberality  of  the  marvel-loving  Emperor.  .JThis 
short  street  was  known  as  "Gold  Alley,"  a  name  lhat  it 
retained  for  centuries ;  here  lived,  at  the  time  of  Dee's  visit, 
Daniel  Prandtner,  an  alchemist  of  doubtful  reputation ;  Chris- 
topher von  Hirschberg,  whose  well-filled  purse  seemed  to  im- 
ply success  in  transmutation,  or  perhaps  in  swindling  an 
opulent  patron ;  a  certain  Magister  Jeremias,  learned  in  phar- 

19 


macy;  the  noted  Bawor  Rodowsky  von  Hustrian,  who  had 
wasted  a  considerable  fortune  in  a  vain  search  for  the  Philo- 
sophers' Stone ;  the  mischievous  female  clairvoyant  Salomena 
Scheinpflug,  who  was  responsible  for  intrigues  that  disgraced 
more  than  one  aristocratic  family  in  Prague ;  and  the  mystic 
occultist  Doctor  Leonhard  Vychperger  von  Erbach.  More 
eminent  than  these  was  the  Italian  alchemist  Claudius  Syrrus, 
who  was  in  the  employ  of  the  great  Prince  von  Rosenberg 
and  with  whom  he  had  made  a  remarkable  contract  in  which 
the  Italian  bound  himself  to  make  efforts  to  discover  the 
secret  of  transmutation,  and  expressly  stated  in  a  dignified 
and  honorable  way  that  he  could  not  promise  success  as  all 
depended  on  the  will  of  the  Almighty.  As  Thomas  Norton, 
of  Bristol,  wrote  in  1477 : 

"Maistryefull,  merveylous  and  Archimastrye 
Is  the  tincture  of  holi  Alkiray : 
A  wonderful  Science, -secrete  Philosophic, 
A  singular  grace  and  gift  of  th'Almightie: 
Which  never  was  found  by  labour  of  Mann, 
But  it  by  Teaching  or  Revelacion  begann." 

Syrrus  had  previously  worked  in  the  laboratory  of  Wenzel 
Wresowec,  who  lived  in  "Little  Prague,"  as  a  certain  quarter 
was  called.  Wresowec,  though  devoted  to  occult  studies,  was 
accounted  so  learned  and  shrewd  that  his  services  were  in 
demand  as  Ambassador  to  foreign  courts  and  as  Envoy  in 
delicate  diplomatic  missions.  To  him  Syrrus  had  dedicated 
his  two  Latin  treatises  on  the  Great  Elixir. 

Besides  the  dwellings  of  alchemists,  fortune-tellers  and 
other  charlatans,  Gold  Alley  contained  the  modest  workshops 
and  unpretentious  houses  of  many  of  the  genuine  artists  who 
found  scope  for  their  talents  and  a  market  for  their  wares 
at  Rudolph's  court.  Here  lived  the  gold  and  silver  smiths, 
engravers  of  precious  stones,  cameo-cutters,  wood-carvers, 
illuminators  of  manuscripts,  painters  and  sculptors,  occupied 

20 


in  manufacturing  and  repairing  art- treasures  for  the  Imperial 
Cabinet  and  Galleries. 

Living  in  a  palatial  mansion  situated  in  a  more  aristo- 
cratic neighborhood,  was  the  court  physician  and  director 
of  alchemical  laboratories,  Dr.  Thaddeus  von  Hayek,  whose 
spacious  parlors  were  the  rendezvous  not  only  of  the  residents 
of  Gold  Alley,  but  also  of  the  poor  journeymen  alchemists  who 
wandered  through  Europe  earning  a  precarious  living  by 
pretence  of  transmutation.  Dr.  von  Hayek  was  educated  in 
the  sciences  and  in  medicine  having  taken  his  degree  at  the 
University  of  Bologna,  where  through  friendship  with  the 
learned  Geronimo  Cardano  he  had  imbibed  fondness  for  mathe- 
matics and  astrology.  He  is  even  credited  with  the  discovery 
of  a  new  star  in  1572.  Being  in  charge  of  the  Imperial  labo- 
ratories, Dr.  von  Hayek  examined  alchemists  who  sought 
positions  at  this  singular  court  as  to  their  proficiency  before 
recommending  them  to  the  Emperor.  Shortly  after  his  arrival 
at  Prague  Dr.  Dee  took  pains  to  make  the  acquaintance  of 
this  important  functionary. 

The  two  English  adventurers  reached  Prague  in  mid- 
summer and  found  lodgings  at  the  "Golden  Ball,"  a  popular 
inn  whose  landlord  Zdenko  was  one  of  the  greatest  gossips 
in  Bohemia.  Dee  at  once  presented  his  letters  of  introduction 
to  the  Imperial  Vice  Chancellor,  Jacob  Curtius,  one  of  the 
most  influential  persons  at  the  court  of  Rudolph,  although 
but  thirty-one  years  of  age.  Curtius,  being  a  bigoted  adherent 
of  the  Jesuit  party,  was  not  very  cordial  to  the  English 
Protestant,  but  made  him  acquainted  with  Dr.  yon  Ha3'ek, 
of  whom  Dee  rented  a  small  house  in  Gold  Alley.  As  soon 
as  Dee  and  Kelley  were  settled  in  their  new  home,  the  Doctor 
resumed  his  conferences  with  Uriel  by  aid  of  the  shew-stone 
and  his  unscrupulous  "skryer."  The  Spirits  informed  him 
that  he  must  make  a  demonstration  in  proof  of  spagyric 

21 


power  before  approaching  the  Emperor,  and  plans  were  made 
for  astonishing  the  residents  of  Gold  Alley  and  the  court 
adepts. 

Meanwhile  Edward  Kelley,  true  to  his  vulgar  instincts, 
got  into  vicious  company  and  spent  days  in  gossip  and  his 
nights  in  low  carousels;  when  excited  with  drink  he  boasted 
of  the  powers  of  his  master  as  a  diviner  of  the  future  and  as 
possessor  of  the  Philosophers'  Stone.  Moreover  money  was 
getting  scarce  in  the  'household  of  the  Englishmen,  so  a  bold 
stroke  was  resolved  upon.  The  curious,  the  credulous,  the 
avaricious  and  the  professional  tricksters : 

"Nasty,  soaking,  greasy  fellows, 

Knaves  would  brain  you  with  their  bellows; 

Hapless,  sapless,  crusty  sticks, 

Blind  as  smoke  can  make  the  bricks;" 

assembled  by  invitation  in  the  laboratory  of  Dr.  von  Hayek, 
built  in  the  basement  of  his  house;  after  a  learned,  mysti- 
fying discourse  by  Dr.  Dee,  Kelley,  with  a  few  drops  of  a 
blood-red  oil,  converted  a  few  ounces  of  mercury,  heated  in  a 
crucible,  into  shining,  yellow  gold  that  stood  the  tests  with 
hammer  and  file  and  drew  forth  the  plaudits  of  the  astonished 
company.  On  the  surface  of  the  ingot  was  found  a  small 
excess  of  the  tincture  glistening  like  a  ruby,  proving  that  an 
unnecessary  amount  of  the  precious  oil  had  been  used.  The 
historic  verity  of  this  transmutation  was  confirmed  by 
Nicholas  Barnaud,  a  guest  of  von  Hayek,  and  by  von  Hayek 
himself,  whose  heirs  long  treasured  a  fragment  of  this  her- 
metic gold. 

The  success  of  this  venture  placed  Dee  and  his  associate 
on  a  pinnacle  of  fame,  and  the  leading  residents  of  Gold  Alley 
besought  the  court  Doctor  to  arrange  a  more  public  confer- 
ence on  alchemy  at  which  they  might  meet  the  Englishmen. 
With  great  hospitality,  von  Hayek  opened  his  parlors  to  a 

22 


TENIER'$   ALCHEMIST. 


large  assemblage  which  embraced  the  alchemists  already 
named,  the  distinguished  physician  Christopher  Guarinonius, 
three  gentlemen  of  the  privy  chamber,  namely,  Martin  Rutzke, 
Hans  Marquardt,  and  Johannes  Frank,  the  court  poet  Mardo- 
chaeus  de  Delle,  and  the  Vice  Chancellor  Jacob  Curtius,  who 
arose  to  welcome  the  English  guests  of  the  evening  and  con- 
ducted them  to  seats  of  honor.  Curtius  presided  over  the 
informal  gathering  and  discussion  was  opened  by  Claudius 
Syrrus,  who  related  some  of  his  experience  in  seeking  the 
Philosophers'  stone.  He  said  the  "red  tincture"  can  be  pro- 
cured only  by  the  conjunction  of  two  substances,  ordinary 
gold  (the  male  principle),  and  philosophical  mercury  (the 
female  principle),  and  to  discover  the  latter  was  the  great 
problem ;  he  had  sought  it  in  common  quicksilver,  in  arsenic, 
tin,  common  salt,  saltpetre,  vitriol,  and  in  the  juices  of  many 
plants  without  success ;  he  had  also  examined  human  bones, 
flesh,  blood,  hair,  saliva  and  other  secretions,  and  he  cautioned 
his  hearers  against  wasting  their  time  and  substance  on  these 
materials.  "It  is  quite  evident/'  he  continued,  "that  tJie 
substance  nearest  by  nature  to  gold  is  quicksilver,  which 
needs  only  to  be  solidified  and  to  have  its  color  changed  to 
yellow.  Now  since  all  metals  are  composed  of  three  primary 
principles,  volatility,  fixedness  and  metallicity,  all  that  is 
necessary  to  be  done  is  to  deprive  mercury  of  its  volatility 
and  to  change  its  color,  for  its  metallicity  is  quite  equal  to 
that  of  gold." 

Christopher  von  Hirschberg,  replying  to  the  speaker,  said  : 
"The  Philosophers'  stone  in  its  perfection  is  permanent  in  the 
fire,  it  is  not  resolvable  in  any  liquor,  it  has  two  distinct 
parts,  one  volatile  and  one  fixed,  it  contains  in  potentia  gold 
and  silver;  it  is  composed  of  2,  of  3,  of  4  and  of  5.  Of  5,  j 
that  is  to  say,  of  the  quintessence;  of  4,  that  is  to  say,  of  the 
four  elements ;  of  3,  that  is  to  say,  of  the  three  principles  of  : 

23 


natural  bodies ;  of  2,  that  is  to  say,  of  twofold  mercury ;  of 
1,  that  is  to  say,  of  the  primary  principle  of  all  things  which 
was  spoken  into  existence  at  the  creation  of  the  world.'* 
"When  about  to  make  use  of  the  miraculous  power  of  the 
stone,  it  is  necessary  to  pay  great  attention  to  the  twelve 
steps  in  the  process:  calcination,  solution,  separation,  con- 
junction, putrefaction,  coagulation,  cibation,  sublimation, 
fermentation,  exaltation,  augmentation,  and  lastly  projection. " 
Then  in  the  metaphorical  diction  characteristic  of  his  kind, 
he  continued  :  "The  greater  the  quantity  of  the  Eagle  opposed 
to  the  Lion  the  shorter  the  combat;  torment  the  Lion  until 
he  is  weary  and  desires  death.  Make  as  much  of  Eagle  until 
it  weeps,  collect  the  tears  and  the  blood  of  the  Lion  and  mix 
them  in  the  philosophical  vase." 

The  learned  student  of  occult  philosophy,  Dr.  Leonhard 
Vychperger  von  Erbach,  then  announced  that  he  had  just 
discovered  the  esoteric  meaning  of  the  legend  of  the  Argo- 
nautic  Expedition,  saying:  "When  ancient  Philosophers  by 
poetic  parables  described  the  laborious  navigation  of  Jason 
to  the  island  Colchos,  where  resided  an  huge  Dragon  vomit- 
ing fire,  which  with  eyes  never  closed  diligently  watched  the 
Golden  Fleece,  they  added  this,  viz.: — that  Jason  was  taught 
by  his  wife  Medea  to  cast  to  this  waking  Dragon  an  edible 
medicine  to  be  swallowed  whereby  he  should  be  killed  and 
burst,  and  that  Jason  should  presently  take  the  Dragon  thus 
slain  and  totally  submerge  him  in  the  Stygian  Lake.  Jason, 
in  this  ingenious  fable,  hieroglyphically  represents  the  philo- 
sophers ;  Medea,  accurate  meditation ;  the  laborious  and  peril- 
ous navigation  signifies  manifold  chemical  labors ;  the  watch- 
ing Dragon  vomiting  fire  denotes  saltpetre  and  sulfur;  and 
the  Golden  Fleece  is  the  Philosophers'  stone,  by  the  help  of 
which  Jason  restored  health  to  his  aged  father  and  acquired 
for  himself  immense  riches.  By  the  pills  of  Medea  is  meant 

24 


the  preparation  of  sulfur  and  sal  mirabile;  by  the  total  sub- 
mersion of  the  Dragon  in  the  Stygian  Lake  is  intimated  the 
fixation  of  sulfur  by  aqua  fortis." 

This  spagyric  interpretation  of  the  Grecian  myth  won 
great  applause  from  the  assembly,  but  the  learned  Dee 
whispered  to  Dr.  von  Hayek:  "The  speaker  has  stolen  his 
idea  from  Dionysius  of  Mitylene,  who  died  50  B.  C." 

Daniel  Prandtner  next  addressed  the  company  and  stated 
he  had  lately  found  in  an  ancient  manuscript  a  recipe  for  the 
quintessence  composed  by  the  Egyptian  " Father  of  Sciences," 
Hermes  Trismegistus,  and  although  he  had  not  essayed  its 
merits  he  would  communicate  it  unselfishly  to  his  friends. 
"Take  of  moisture  one  and  one-half  ounces,  of  meridional 
redness,  that  is  the  soul  of  the  sun,  a  fourth  part,  that  is 
half  an  ounce ;  of  yellow  seyr  likewise  half  an  ounce ;  and  of 
auripigmentum  a  half  ounce,  making  in  all  three  ounces. 
Know  that  the  vine  of  wisemen  is  extracted  in  threes  and 
its  wine  at  last  is  completed  in  thirty." 

Bawor  Rodowsky  rose  with  a  melancholy  air  that  agreed 
well  with  his  shabby  appearance,  and  said  that  for  his  part 
he  found  the  old  saying  true  that  "Alchemy  is  a  coquette 
inviting  flirtation,  but  denying  favors;  an  art  without  art; 
of  which  the  beginning  is  avarice,  the  middle  falsehood,  and 
the  end  either  a  beggar's  staff  or  the  gallows." — but  he  hoped 
to  escape  this  tragic  end.  He  was  inclined,  moreover,  to  agree 
with  that  mystical  philosopher,  Henry  Cornelius  Agrippa, 
who  styled  alchemy  the  "sister  of  theology,"  for  the  latter 
directs  man  to  eternal  happiness  after  death  by  false  paths, 
dreams  and  myths,  while  the  former  promises  to  the  living 
long  life,  health  and  immeasurable  riches  by  false  speculations 
and  useless  labor.  At  this  point,  von  Hustrian  was  inter- 
rupted by  Martin  Rutzke,  who  inquired  whether  the  speaker 
believed  the  artificial  gold  made  by  alchemy  to  be  true  gold 

25 


or  not.  Rodowsky  said  in  reply  that  it  would  appear  at 
first  sight  as  if  the  question  must  be  answered  negativeh'. 
" Since  gold  is  properly  generated  in  the  bowels  of  the  earth, 
it  would  seem  that  whatever  is  not  so  generated  cannot  have 
the  same  essence;  moreover,  the  substantial  qualities  can  be 
introduced  into  the  primordial  matter  only  by  the  celestial 
sun,  which  is  not  the  sun  or  fire  used  by  alchemists.  But  the 
real  question  is  whether  there  can  be  elicited  from  the  sun, 
by  an  artificial  process,  any  seminal  virtue  which  shall  possess 
the  power  of  hardening  quicksilver  in  a  moment  of  time  into 
gold.  That  gold  possesses  such  seminal  virtue  is  certain,  for 
St.  Augustine  says  that  every  substance  contains  seminal 
possibilities  of  a  specific  character,  which  will  always  produce 
certain  given  effects,  whenever  the  requisite,  causal,  temporal 
and  local  conditions  are  fulfilled.  Hence  gold  contains  the 
radical  virtue  sought;  this  may  be  developed  by  digestive 
heat  and  the  impulse  of  an  overruling  intelligence.  First, 
however,  the  gold  must  be  reduced  to  its  prima  materia  by 
calcination  in  a  reverbertory  fire,  and  the  seminal  virtue  thus 
extracted  must  be  sown  in  sublimed  mercurial  earth  so  as 
to  impregnate  the  latter  by  fixation,  the  vessel  being  kept 
closed  to  prevent  escape  of  the  spiritual  power." 

When  the  handsome,  dignified  foreigner  left  his  seat,  at 
the  invitation  of  the  Vice  Chancellor,  the  assembly  gave  utter- 
ance to  a  low  murmur  of  satisfaction.  Dr.  Dee  saluted  the 
Chairman  with  a  low  bow  and  apologizing  for  his  ignorance 
of  the  colloquial  tongue,  spoke  in  Latin.  He  took  a  religious 
view  of  the  studies  of  theosophy,  hermetism  and  crystallo- 
mancy,  and  referring  to  the  Philosophers'  stone  said  :  "Whoso- 
ever attempteth  the  search  for  the  glorious  Elixir  ought  in 
the  first  place  to  implore  the  assistance  of  the  all-powerful 
Jehovah  at  the  throne  of  his  mercy,  who  is  the  true  and  sole 
author  of  all  mysteries  of  Nature.  See  what  Scripture  saith : 

26 


BIRTH    OF  THE   PHILOSOPHER'S  STONE. 

From  Der  Hermetische  Triumph, 
Amsterdam.  1689. 


*He  stroke  the  stone  and  water  flowed  out,  and  he  brought 
forth  oil  out  of  the  flinty  rock.'  Again:  'To  him  that  over- 
cometh  will  I  give  of  the  hidden  manna,  and  I  will  give  him 
a  white  stone,  and  upon  the  stone  a  new  name  written,  which 
no  one  knoweth  but  him  that  receiveth  it.'" 

Suddenly  dropping  this  line  of  thought,  Dee  informed  the 
expectant  audience  that  his  Associate,  Kelley,  had  reluctantly 
consented  to  the  disclosure  of  the  secret  of  the  projection 
made  in  Dr.  von  Hayek's  laboratory  a  short  time  before,  and 
proceeded  to  give  the  preparation  of  the  blood-red  oil  as 
follows:  "Take  distilled  vinegar  of  the  philosophers,  dissolve 
therein  the  green  lion,  putrify  and  filter  the  solution,  draw 
off  the  liquid  in  balneo  to  an  oiliness.  Place  this  in  a  retort 
and  distil  with  a  gentle  fire,  then  increase  the  fire  until  the 
green  lion  yield  his  glue;  to  the  caput  mortuum  pour  its 
phlegm,  putrify  in  balneo  and  distil  as  before,  and  there  will 
come  over  a  bloody  oil." 

A  short  pause  ensued  during  which  many  in  the  audience 
wrote  rapidly  on  tablets  their  notes  of  this  valuable  recipe; 
presently  Dee  continued,  and  with  twinkling  eyes  and  an 
amused  countenance,  repeated  the  following  enigma:  — 

"A  Riddle  to  you  I  will  propose 

Of  a  common  thing  which  most  men  knows, 

Which  now  in  the  earth  very  reef  doth  grow, 

But  is  of  small  price,  as  all  men  know. 

And  that  without  root,  stalke  or  seede, 

Therewith  of  his  kinde  another  to  breede ; 

Yet  of  that  nature,  that  it  cannot  cease, 

If  you  plant  it  by  peeces  itselfe  to  increase ; 

Right  heavy  by  kinde,  yet  forced  to  fly, 

Starke  nought  in  the  purse,  yet  good  in  the  eye. 

This  something  is  nothing,  which  seemeth  full  strange, 

Having  tasted  the  fire  which  maketh  the  change 

And  hath  many  Collours,  yet  showeth  but  one; 

This  is  the  materiall  of  our  STONE." 

27 


Dr.  von  Hayek  thanked  the  speaker  in  the  name  of  those 
present  for  his  interesting  address,  and  referred  to  a  passage 
in  the  writings  of  his  own  former  master  in  occult  science, 
Cardano:  "Alchemy,"  he  wrote,  "contains  several  admirable 
things,  several  useless,  several  doubtful,  several  desirable,  but 
none  salutary,  none  efficacious,  none  of  great  hope,  none  of 
peril,  none  of  which  to  boast."  He  thereupon  stated  that  in 
his  long  experience  as  Director  of  the  laboratories  of  the 
Imperial  court  and  as  examiner  of  those  who  claimed  to  be 
adepts  in  transmutation,  he  had  detected  many  kinds  of  frauds 
and  he  proposed  to  give  a  summary  of  them  to  put  his  friends 
on  their  guard.  Some  imposters  used  double-bottomed 
crucibles,  the  false  bottom  being  made  of  powdered  crucible- 
earth  mixed  with  wax,  gold-filings  being  concealed  in  the 
space  between.  Others  devised  hollow  rods  for  stirring  the 
molten  ingredients,  the  ends  being  stopped  with  wax  which 
melted  easily,  and  thus  gold-powder  secreted  in  the  rods  was 
introduced  into  the  crucibles.  Another  adept  was  detected  in 
dropping  into  the  crucible  a  piece  of  charcoal  in  which  gold- 
leaf  had  been  hidden ;  one  well  versed  in  the  chemical  art  had 
steeped  a  bit  of  charcoal  in  a  solution  of  gold  and  when 
busy  about  the  furnace-fire  he  slily  threw  it  into  the  crucible. 
Those  who  pretended  to  make  gold  and  silver  without  fire, 
coals,  crucibles  and  metallurgical  accessories,  resorted  to  other 
'  ingenious  schemes;  one  used  aqua  fortis  in  which  silver  had 
.  been  secretly  dissolved ;  another  had  a  knife-blade  made  of 
two  metals  soldered  together,  the  golden  half  painted  black 
with  a  varnish  soluble  in  alcohol,  and  the  removal  of  the 
coating  from  the  gold  by  immersion  in  spirits  of  wine  effected 
the  deception.  A  more  unusual  trick  was  to  bleach  copper 
with  a  preparation  of  arsenic,  but  the  most  common  of  all 
consisted  in  using  a  compound  of  gold  and  mercury  known 
as  amalgam;  when  this  amalgam  is  heated  to  the  third 

28 


degree,  the  mercury  flies  away  in  the  smoke  leaving  the 
precious  metal  behind.  Dr.  von  Hayek,  in  conclusion,  warned 
his  hearers  against  these  deceitful  schemes. 

This  discussion  was  very  differently  received  by  those 
present ;  several  winked  at  their  neighbors  as  if  to  imply  they 
had  tried  that  method  themselves,  and  others  made  mental 
notes  of  the  processes  for  future  use  in  case  of  need ;  among 
the  latter  was  the  wide-awake,  unscrupulous  Kelley. 


29 


CHAPTER  IV. 


RUDOLPH  AND  DR.  DEE. 

"He  •will  show  you  the  Devill  in.  a  Christal,  calculate  the  na- 
tivity of  his  gelding,  talk  of  nothing  but  Gold  and  Silver, 
Elixir,  calcination,  augmentation,  citrinatibn,  cementation; 
and  swearing  to  enrich  the  world  in  a  month  he  is  not  able 
to  buy  himself  a  new  Cloake  in  a  whole  year." 

|N  entering  the  gorgeously  decorated  and  spacious 
hall  which  was  crowded  with  a  rich  collection  of 
antiquities  and  art-treasures,  Doctor  Dee  was  met 
by  the  Vice  Chancellor  Curtius,  whose  duty  it  was 
to  present  invited  guests  to  the  Emperor.  Passing  through 
a  corridor,  hung  with  paintings,  into  a  private  room,  Dee  was 
received  by  Rudolph,  who  xwas  seated  on  a  table  on  which 
lay  a  copy  of  "Monas  Hieroglyphica,"  the  book  that  Dee 
had  dedicated  to  Rudolph's  imperial  father  many  years  before, 
together  with  the  letters  Dee  had  written  to  his  Majesty 
soliciting  the  privilege  of  an  audience.  These  were  auspicious 
omens  and  forshadowed  the  affable  manner  in  which  the 
Emperor  received  the  Englishman,  who  knelt  humbly  before 
him;  he  bid  Dee  not  to  kneel  and  soon  set  him  at  his  ease. 
The  personal  appearance  of  the  Emperor  of  the  German 
nation  was  not  at  all  imposing;  he  was  rather  below  the 
average  height  and  slight  in  body;  his  face  was  pallid  and 
his  cheeks  sunken;  his  large  lips  were  somewhat  irregular, 
being  slightly  twisted  to  the  right  side;  his  hair  was  curly 

30 


RUDOLPH    II,   GERMAN    EMPEROR. 


V  OF  THE 


UNIVERSITY 
or 


but  thin  and  early  became  streaked  with  grey,  at  the  age  of 
fifty-four  it  was  silvery-white;  his  eyes,  however,  were  large 
and  brilliant,  and  his  countenance  though  rarely  lit  up  by  a 
smile  was  friendly  to  those  he  desired  to  meet.  His  manners 
were  courtly  as  became  a  Prince,  and  agreeable  when  he  was 
not  depressed  with  melancholia.  He  did  not  affect  luxury  in 
his  dress  and  rarely  displayed  gorgeous  costumes,  but  on 
ceremonious  occasions  he  exhibited  magnificent  and  imperial 
pomp.  Rudolph  was  an  accomplished  linguist  speaking 
German,  Bohemian,  Spanish,  Italian,  French,  and  Latin,  being 
quite  fluent  in  the  dead  language  owing  to  his  early  training 
by  the  Jesuit  fathers  at  Madrid. 

After  an  exchange  of  courtly  phrases,  Rudolph  gave  Dee 
liberty  to  speak  at  length  and  he  delivered  a  grandiloquent 
speech  in  Latin  telling  his  Majesty  that  he  had  come  to  Prague 
to  communicate  a  Divine  message;  Dee  explained  that  for 
two  and  a  half  years  he  had  held  converse  with  God's  holy 
angels  through  the  medium  of  a  magic  crystal  and  the  in- 
strumentality of  his  "skryer"  and  that  he  had  been  recently 
commanded  by  the  archangel  Uriel  to  give  to  the  Emperor 
the  following  reproof:  — 

4 'The  Angel  of  the  Lord  rebuketh  you  for  your  sins  ;  if  you 
will  hear  me  and  believe  me  you  shall  triumph;  if  you  will 
not  hear  me  the  Lord  God  that  made  heaven  and  earth 
putteth  His  foot  against  your  breast  and  will  throw  you 
headlong.  Moreover  the  Lord  hath  made  this  covenant  with 
me  by  oath  that  He  will  do  and  perform :  if  you  will  forsake 
3'our  wickedness  and  turn  to  Him  your  throne  shall  be  the 
greatest  on  earth,  and  the  Devil  shall  become  your  prisoner." 
Dee  then  immediately  added:  "I  conjecture  this  Devil  to  be 
the  Great  Turk.  This  is  my  commission.'* 

Rudolph  was  at  first  amazed  at  Dee's  boldness  of  speech, 
then  angry  at  his  attack,  but  soon  perceived  that  he  had  to 

31 


deal  with  a  harmless,  religious  fanatic,  and  instead  of  taking 
umbrage  quietly  replied  that  he  trusted  he  would  not  need 
earnest  protestations  to  lead  a  correct  life.  He  also  expressed 
curiosity  about  the  "holy-stone"  and  Dee  soon  forgot  his 
fervid  religious  mood  in  the  quiet  conversation  that  followed 
on  the  mysteries  of  crystallomanc3\  He  told  the  Emperor 
that  the  use  of  crystals  in  divination  was  very  ancient  and 
analogous  to  the  method  with  mirrors  known  as  catopt- 
romancy.  According  to  Varro,  the  intimate  friend  of  Cicero, 
these  methods  originated  in  Persia ;  the  Greek  mathematician 
Pythagoras  constructed  a  highly  polished  steel  mirror  at  the 
full  of  the  moon,  for  divination,  as  early  as  500  B.  C. 
Diviners  by  mirrors  were  called  by  the  Romans  Specularii; 
they  were  employed  by  the  ill-fated  Roman  Emperor  Didius 
Julianus  (born  133  A.  D.)  who  sought  to  learn  the  issue  of 
the  battle  about  to  take  place  between  his  general,  Severus, 
and  TulHus  Crispinus,  a  child  being  the  seer  on  that  occasion. 
Dee  remarked  that  Rudolph  was  of  course  acquainted  with 
the  recently  published  work  describing  excellent  methods  for 
reading  the  future,  by  the  Italian  philosopher  Pico  della 
Mirandola.  The  mirrors  used  by  these  and  others  were,  how- 
ever, of  human  manufacture,  whereas  the  "shew-stone"  was 
of  supernatural  origin,  having  been  given  him  by  the  angel 
Uriel.  Rudolph  expressed  great  interest  and  curiosity  in  the 
matter  and  Dee  promised  to  exhibit  its  powers  on  another 
occasion. 

The  conversation  then  drifted  into  astrology,  especially 
on  the  influence  of  the  zodiacal  signs  on  the  human  anatomy  ; 
Dee  criticised  the  horoscope  of  the  Emperor  cast  by  a  Bohe- 
mian expert  as  barbarous  and  offered  to  work  out  a  correct 
one,  for  which  purpose  he  obtained  the  necessary  data  as  to 
Rudolph's  nativity.  The  learned  Englishman's  lofty,  mathe- 
matical way  of  discussing  astronomy  rather  bored  his  Majesty 

32 


who  turned  the  conversation  to  chiromancy,  a  topic  in  which 
Dee  was  also  proficient. 

At  the  hint  from  the  Vice  Chancellor  Dee  withdrew,  first 
promising  the  Emperor  a  second  visit,  and  returned  to  his 
house  in  Gold  Alley ;  soon  after  he  received  through  the 
Emperor's  private  almoner  a  royal  gift  of  coins,  representing 
more  gold  than  his  crucibles  and  retorts  had  ever  yielded. 

Though  passionately  devoted  to  the  sciences,  Rudolph  was 
not  a  profound  scholar;  lie  hired  skilled  men  to  work  in  his 
laboratories  and  observatories  and  hoped  to  reap  the  benefit 
of  their  success  in  the  creation  of  gold  and  in  penetration  of 
the  future.  He  had  no  book-learning  aside  from  the  ad- 
'vantages  gained  by  linguistic  ability,  and  he  had  no  dis- 
position to  work  hard  at  the  literature  of  the  past.  His 
courtiers  and  salaried  scientists  were  chiefly  parasites,  and  a 
great  contrast  to  the  profound,  well-read  English  philosopher 
who  had  settled  in  Prague.  Consequently  at  the  next  and 
many  subsequent  visits  paid  by  Dee  to  the  Emperor,  the 
Englishman  discoursed  on  the  mysteries  of  spiritualism,  and 
the  arcana  of  hermetic  philosophy ;  they  exchanged  views  on 
the  true  sources  of  the  prima  materia,  knowledge  of  which 
is  indispensable  to  transmutation;  they  discussed  the  best 
form  of  Alcahest,  the  Azoth  of  Paracelsus,  and  methods  of 
preparing  Aurum  Potabile.  Then,  penetrating  more  deeply 
into  the  mysteries  of  spagyrical  secrets,  they  conferred  on  the 
doctrine  of  palingenesis,  the  operation  of  reconstructing  from 
its  ashes  a  plant  or  a  flower;  this  phenomenon  consists  in 
the  evocation  of  the  primitive  form  of  the  being,  its  astral 
body,  by  the  will-power  of  the  Spagyrist,  under  the  influence 
of  heat  and  of  the  spiritum  universalem.  The  marvels  of 
homunculi  also  engaged  their  attention;  Dee  maintained  that 
these  artificial  manifestations  of  the  microcosm  were  merely 
elemental  gnomes,  sylphs  and  undines  endowed  with  bodies 

33 


analogous  to  that  of  man;  and  he  said  he  had  always  re- 
frained from  experimenting  with  homunculi  owing  to  the 
terrible  moral  responsibility  involved .  Dee  then  spoke  of  the 
fascinating  study  of  gamahes,  those  natural  objects  made  of 
marble,  silex  and  other  minerals  which  imitate  perfectly  man's 
artistic  work.  He  pointed  out  the  supreme  importance  of 
these  objects  in  their  relation  to  transmutation,  for  the 
Philosophers'  stone  is  a  gamahe  in  the  form  of  gold. 

Discussion  ensued  on  the  influence  of  the  Lemures  in  de- 
veloping hermetism,  and  of  the  real  significance  of  the  great 
Thelesma  of  Hermes,  when  the  royal  pupil  of  the  erudite 
Englishman  found  himself  getting  beyond  his  depth  in  a 
philosophical  maze;  to  extricate  himself  he  suggested  that 
the  goal  of  transmutation  might  best  be  reached  by  obeying 
the  precepts  embodied  in  the  ancient  saying: 

"Labora,  opera,  ora  et  invenies." 

To  this,  however,  Dee,  with  the  skill  of  a  courtier,  added 
that  due  weight  should  be  given  to  another  maxim: 

uOmni  ex  voluntate  Dei," 
which  was  one  of  Rudolph's  favorite  mottoes. 

That  famous  embodiment  of  alchemic  lore,  the  Tabula 
Smaragdina  of  Hermes  Trismegistus,  aroused  a  heated  dis- 
cussion inasmuch  as  Dee  ventured  to  oppose  Rudolph's  inter- 
pretation of  it.  The  'Father  of  Alchemy,'  Hermes,  was  identi- 
fied with  Canaan,  Noah's  grandson ;  he  invented  mathematics, 
astronomy  and  music,  taught  the  Egyptians  the  art  of  writing 
and  gave  them  legal  institutions  and  religious  rites.  More- 
over he  was  perfectly  acquainted  with  the  Philosophers'  stone, 
and  being  desirous  that  posterity  should  inherit  the  wonder- 
ful gift,  he  had  the  process  for  creating  gold  engraved  on  an 
emerald  tablet  which  was  placed  in  his  sepulchre.  Many  years 
later  it  was  removed  by  Sarah,  Abraham's  wife,  and  she 
concealed  it  in  a  cave  near  Hebron  where  it  remained  until 

34 


discovered  by  Alexander  the  Great.     The  inscription  on  the 
emerald  read  as  follows :  — 

"I  speak  not  of  fictitious  things  but  of  that  which  is  most  certain 
and  true.  Whatsoever  is  below  is  like  that  which  is  above,  and 
that  which  is  above  is  similar  to  that  which  is  below  to  accomp- 
lish the  miracles  of  one  thing.  And  as  all  things  were  produced 
by  the  meditation  of  one  Being,  so  all  things  were  produced  from 
this  one  thing  by  adaptation.  Its  father  is  Sol,  its  mother  Luna; 
the  wind  carried  it  in  its  belly,  the  earth  is  its  nurse.  It  is  the 
cause  of  all  perfection  throughout  the  whole  earth.  Its  power  is 
perfect,  if  it  be  changed  into  earth.  Separate  the  earth  from  the 
fire  the  subtile  from  the  gross,  acting  prudently  and  with  judg- 
ment. Ascend  with  the  greatest  sagacity  from  the  earth  to  heaven, 
and  then  again  descend  to  the  earth,  und  unite  together  the 
powers  of  things  superior  and  things  inferior.  Thus  you  will 
possess  the  glory  of  the  whole  world,  and  all  obscurity  will  fly 
far  away  from  you.  This  thing  has  more  fortitude  than  fortitude 
itself,  because  it  will  overcome  every  subtile  thing  and  penetrate 
every  solid  thing.  By  it  this  world  was  formed.  Hence  proceed 
wonderful  things  which  in  this  wise  were  established.  For  this 
reason  I  am  called  Hermes  Trismegistus,  because  I  possess  three 
parts  of  the  philosophy  of  the  whole  world.  What  I  had  to  say 
about  the  operation  of  Sol  is  completed." 

In  discussing  this  ancient  parable  Dee  preferred  to  give  a 
theological  interpretation  to  it,  whereas  the  Emperor  main- 
tained it  was  the  key  to  hermetic  philosophy.  Dr.  Dee  then 
remarked  that  it  reminded  him  of  another  enigma  of  unknown 
origin :  — 

''If  ye  wolle  to  thys  Medycyn  aplye, 
Make  furst  hevy,  hard,  hotte  and  drye: 
Nesshe,  lyght,  cold  and  wete, 
Put  ham  togeder  and  make  ham  mete, 
Thus  may  ye  spend  mor  thann  the  King, 
Yf  ye  have  connyng  of  suche  a  thynge." 

Doctor  Dee  found  that  Rudolph  desired  to  learn  more  of 
the  famous  English  and  French  masters  in  science,  and  he 
informed  his  Majesty  of  the  celebrated  Franciscan  monk  Roger 
Bacon  who  flourished  in  the  thirteenth  century.  He  told 

35 


him  of  Bacon's  great  learning  in  every  branch  of  knowledge,, 
theology,  medicine,  mathematics,  mechanics,  optics  and  chem- 
istry; and  he  spoke  of  his  inventions,  the  magic-lantern,  the 
burning  glass,  the  telescope  and  gunpowder,  as  well  as  of  his 
wonderful  magical  powers  that  enabled  him  to  construct  a 
machine  to  rise  in  the  air,  statues  having  the  power  of  loco- 
motion, and  a  brazen  head  that  emitted  articulate  speech. 
Rudolph  was  of  course  acquainted  with  Bacon's  Mirror  of 
Alchemy  published  a  short  time  before  at  Lyons.  Dee  then 
spoke  of  the  skillful  physician,  Arnold  of  Villanova,  and  of  the 
transmutation  he  accomplished  with  the  aid  of  Raymund 
Lully  at  Rome  in  1288;  also  of  Sir  George  Ripley,  who  gained 
such  enormous  wealth  by  the  hermetic  art  that  he  presented 
the  Knights  of  St.  John  of  Jerusalem  with  five  hundred  thou- 
sand pounds  of  gold,  as  proved  by  documents  at  Malta. 

Passing  to  France,  Dee  reminded  the  Emperor  of  the 
extraordinary  history  of  the  poor  Parisian  scrivener,  Nicholas 
Flamel,  who  had  labored  with  crucibles,  athanors  and 
alembics  for  twenty  years  before  he  gained  the  secret  of  the 
Philosophers'  stone ;  and  then,  with  the  assistance  of  his 
faithful  wife  Perrenelle,  on  January  17th  1382,  about  noon, 
he  made  a  successful  projection  on  one  pound  and  a  half  of 
mercury,  transmuting  it  into  good  gold,  more  pliable  and 
lustrous  than  the  natural  metal.  As  visible  evidence  of  this 
claim  Dee  assured  Rudolph  that  he  had  seen  the  handsome 
archway  in  the  cemetery  of  the  Holy  Innocents  erected  at 
Flamel's  expense,  on  which  were  sculptured  hieroglyphical 
figures  explaining  the  whole  process ;  and  that  when  he,  Dee, 
fell  ill  during  a  visit  to  Paris  in  his  youth,  he  had  been  kindly 
treated  in  one  of  the  hospitals  endowed  by  the  pious  Flamel 
with  a  portion  of  the  wealth  secured  by  spagyric  skill. 

The  learned  Englishman  delighted  the  Emperor  with  the 
picturesque  narrative  of  another  French  alchemist,  Denis 

36 


Zachaire,  who  labored  vainly  for  nearly  a  lifetime  and  had 
spent  a  fortune  before  success  had  crowned  his  efforts  by  a 
projection  made  on  Easter  Monday,  1550,  when  in  less  than 
an  hour  common  quicksilver  was  converted  into  gold. 
Rudolph,  who  was  accustomed  to  see  his  alchemists  maintain 
fires  for  seven  weeks  at  a  time,  only  to  produce  dross,  was 
greatly  impressed  by  this  report. 

On  one  occasion  the  Emperor  himself  became  communi- 
cative and  conversed  on  the  progress  of  alchemy  in  Bohemia  in 
recent  years.  His  Majesty  spoke  of  the  chemical  laboratory 
founded  at  Koniggratz  in  1476  by  Wenzel  von  Troppau,  in 
which  the  dowager  Empress  Barbara  worked  with  great  zeal. 
Rudolph,  though  credulous,  was  aware  of  the  necessity  of 
taking  precautions  against  trickery  and  told  Dee  with  great 
glee,  of  the  simple  scheme  by  which  Christopher  von  Hirsch- 
berg swindled  the  opulent  Lord  von  Rosenberg.  Hirschberg 
informed  the  Prince  that  gold  properly  treated  with  chemicals 
would  increase  in  quantity  if  merely  buried  in  the  soil  and 
watered  with  certain  secret  liquids.  Rosenberg  loaned  the 
knave  eighty  gold  ducats  for  the  experiment;  they  were  buried 
in  the  garden  and  duly  sprinkled  with  the  nasty  liquid  sup- 
plied, but  after  a  few  days  Hirschberg  disappeared  and  on 
digging  for  the  ducats  it  was  found  that  they  too  had  vanished. 

Mardocheus  de  Delle,  who  with  other  courtiers  was  present 
at  the  interview,  laughed  heartily  at  this  narrative  and  pro- 
mised the  Emperor  a  poem  on  the  adventures  of  the  noble 
lord  and  the  wily  alchemist.  Dee  was  about  to  inquire  as 
to  the  penalty  imposed  on  von  Hirschberg,  whom  he  had  met 
in  Gold  Alley,  when  conversation  was  interrupted  by  the 
entrance  of  Martin  de  Rutzke,  bringing  with  him  a  beautifully 
illuminated  and  rare  manuscript  rescued  at  the  dispersal  of 
the  library  of  Wresowitz,  who  was  reputed  to  have  been  a 
successful  experimenter.  The  work  was  entitled  "The  True 

37 


Path  of  Alchemy,"  and  was  written  by  Antonio  of  Florence 
in  the  year  1475;  being  couched  in  exceedingly  obscure  and 
mystical  language,  hinting  only  at  the  secrets  of  the  black 
art,  it  was  particularly  admired  by  Rudolph  who  ordered  his 
treasurer  to  pay  the  high  price  demanded  for  it,  and  instructed 
his  librarian  to  add  it  to  his  valuable  collection. 

The  promised  exhibition  of  the  magic  virtue  of  the  "holy 
stone"  was  not  arranged  until  the  20th  of  March  1585,  and 
the  occasion  was  invested  \vith  great  mystery  and  solemnity 
by  Dr.  Dee,  and  by  Kelley,  who  made  his  first  appearance 

before  the  Emperor.    The 
precious  crystal  was  re- 
•     moved    from    its    velvet- 
lined,     silver  -  mounted 
|if    ebony  case  and  laid  with 
due    ceremony    upon     a 

table ;  Kelley  placed  him- 
DR.  DEE'S  SHEW-STONE,  ir   ,    f  ,       ,, 

self  before   it  and    after 

Preserved  in  the  British  Museum. 

gazing     fixedly     at     the 

glittering  bauble  went  into  a  sort  trance;  Dee  sat  at  an- 
other table  furnished  with  writing  materials;  the  Emperor 
for  once  had  to  play  a  subordinate  part  as  onlooker  and  to 
await  the  pleasure  of  the  spirits.  The  only  other  persons  in 
the  dimly  lighted  room  were  the  Vice  Chancellor  Curtius  and 
Martin  de  Rutzke  of  the  privy  chamber.  After  a  devout  in- 
vocation to  the  Almighty  in  which  Dee  besought  the  good 
\vill  of  the  angelic  host,  Kelley,  with  halting  speech  and 
monotonous  drawl,  began  to  dictate  both  the  visual  and  oral 
mysteries  revealed  by  the  spirits  in  the  shew-stone.  At  first 
he  recited  a  chaotic  mass  of  absurd  rhapsodies  in  an  in- 
comprehensible jargon  well  calculated  to  mystify  the  credulous 
Emperor;  then  followed  oracular  utterances  prophesying 
Rudolph's  success  in  war,  and  a  dark  allusion  to  a  powerful 

38 


UNIVERSITY 


alliance  with  a  foreign  power  destined  to  yield  some  beneficial 
and  some  evil  results.  Finally  Kelley  announced  that  the  spirit 
Zadkiel  wished  to  communicate  directly  with  his  Majesty, 
and  the  Emperor  replacing  Dee  at  the  writing  table,  took 
down  the  following  recipe  for  the  Philosophers'  stone: 

"Take  common  Audcal,  purge  it  and  work  it  by  Rlodnr  of  four 
divers  digestions,  continuing  the  last  digestion  for  fourteen  days 
in  one  and  a  swift  proportion,  until  it  be  Dlafod  fixed,  a  most 
red  and  luminous  body,  the  Image  of  Resurrection.  Take  also 
Lulo  of  red  Roxtan  and  work  him  through  the  four  fiery  degrees 
until  thou  hast  his  Audcal  and  there  gather  him.  .  . 
So, doth  it  become  Darr,  the  thing  you  ask  for;  a  holy,  most 
glorious  and  dignified  Dlafod.  But  watch  well  and  gather  him 
so  at  the  highest,  for  in  one  hour  he  descendeth  or  ascendeth  from 
the  purpose.  Take  hold." 

Doctor  Dee,  who  had  much  experience  in  the  language  of 
spirits,  explained  the  obscure  words  thus :  Audcal  signifies 
gold,  the  prima  materia  in  this  operation;  Dlafod  represents 
sulfur,  the  essential  component ;  Lulo  means  tartar  and 
Roxtan  means  wine,  so  the  phrase  refers  to  philosophical 
cream-of-tartar.  Darr,  in  the  angelic  tongue,  is  the  true  name 
of  the  stone. 

In  commemoration  of  this  extraordinary  seance,  Rudolph 
graciously  presented  to  Dee  a  fragment  of  so-called  ''immortal 
paper,"  paper  that  had  been  rendered  indestructible  by  im- 
mersion in  the  water  of  a  mineral  spring  in  Silesia.  The 
paper  thus  acquired  properties  that  protected  it  from  decay 
as  well  as  from  attacks  of  moths  and  worms.  It  had  been 
given  to  the  Emperor  by  George  Kretschmar,  a  resident  of 
Gold  Alley,  who  was  rewarded  by  a  patent  of  nobility. 

The  Emperor,  the  English  savant  and  his  companion  in 
charlatanism,  probably  all  felt  that: 

....  "The  pleasure  is  as  great 
Of  being  cheated,  as  to  cheat 

39 


CHAPTER  V. 
RUDOLPH  AND  THE  "GOLDEN  KNIGHT/' 

"By  fire 

Of  sooty  coal  th'empiric  alchemist 
Can  turn,  or  holds  it  possible  to  turn, 
Metals  of  drossiest  ore  to  perfect  gold." 

Milton. 

OHN  DEE'S  seance  with  the  "holy  stone"  in 
Rudolph's  private  apartment  raised  his  reputation 
to  a  prodigious  height;  a  further  display  of  philo- 
sophical instruments  whose  use  was  little  under- 
stood by  the  Emperor,  and  of  a  magic  mirror  together  with 
an  exhibition  of  Catoptromancy,  secured  for  the  Englishman 
the  fullest  confidence  of  this  eccentric  patron  of  science.  Dee 
was  assigned  one  of  the  best  equipped  laboratories  on  the 
Hradschin,  and  with  the  useful  Kelley  went  to  work  with 
renewed  zeal  at  the  search  for  the  Philosophers'  stone.  At 
first  the  costly  materials  and  apparatus  were  supplied  by  the 
,  Emperor's  orders  with  liberality  and  promptness,  but  after 
some  time  the  foreigners  had  to  avail  themselves  of  the  con- 
tributions of  the  gentlemen  of  the  privy  chamber,  the  courtiers 
and  the  noble  attendants,  all  of  whom  had  blind  faith  in 
transmutation  and  a  willingness  to  aid  in  sustaining  the 
labors  of  such  distinguished  and  skillful  adepts. 

Dr.  Dee's  eldest  son,   Arthur,   already  initiated  in  occult 
lore,  became    an  assistant  in  the  royal  laboratory;   having 

40 


real  skill  in  the  management  of  fire  and  in  all  metallurgical 
operations,  Arthur  Dee  won  the  highest  esteem  of  the 
Emperor's  trained  alchemists.  John  Dee  now  found  himself 
so  pleasantly  situated  and  profitably  occupied  that  he 
removed  his  family,  in  January,  1585,  to  a  better  residence, 
rented  of  two  sisters  at  seventy  dollars  per  annum;  he  con- 
ducted his  household  affairs  in  a  lavish  style  and  began  to 
mingle  with  the  aristocratic  residents  of  the  Hradschin  and 
of  Old  Prague.  His  high  reputation  even  reached  the  Russian 
court;  the  Czar  Feodor  invited  him  to  enter  his  service, 
promising  him  a  stipend  of  two  thousand  pounds  per  annum, 
besides  laboratory  expenses  and  apartments  for  his  family 
and  household  servants.  Dee  refused  this  brilliant  offer  but 
sent  his  son  Arthur  to  Moscow,  where  he  became  court 
physician  and  a  favorite  with  the  powerful  Czar.  While  at 
Moscow  Arthur  Dee  wrote  his  famous  book  on  alchemy 
entitled  "Fasciculus  Chemicus"  printed  at  London  in  1650, 
after  his  return  to  England. 

Had  Dee's  magic  crystal  really  shown  him  the  future  in 
store  for  him,  he  would  have  accepted  the  offer  of  the  Russian 
potentate,  for  within  two  3^ears  he  fell  into  disgrace  and  was 
Torced  to  leave  Prague;  in  an  evil  hour  he  began  to  meddle 
in  court  intrigues  of  a  perilous  nature.  Fierce  controversies 
had  long  raged  in  Bohemia  between  Catholics  and  Pro- 
testants, and  Rudolph,  influenced  by  the  wily  Jesuits  attached 
to  the  court,  promulgated  harsh  measures  against  the  new 
party,  although  a  constitutional  disinclination  to  exert  his 
power  as  monarch  disposed  him  to  be  tolerant  to  his  political 
opponents.  Theological  disputations  even  penetrated  court 
circles  and  naturaly  the  staunch  Protestant  from  England 
took  sides  against  the  Catholic  party,  at  the  head  of  which 
was  the  Grand  Steward  George  Popel  von  Lobkowitz  and 
the  Papal  Legate.  Among  the  courtiers  inclined  to  show 

41 


polite  attention  to  the  learned  Englishman  was  the  Am- 
bassador of  Spain,  the  crafty  Octavius  Spinola.  He  secured 
Dee's  confidence  by  inviting  him  to  dinner,  in  the  course  of 
which  he  claimed  to  be  a  descendant  of  the  noted  alchemist 
Raymund  Lully,  one  of  the  reputed  possessors  of  the  Philo- 
sophers' stone,  who  late  in  life  through  religious  convictions, 
went  as  a  missionary  to  the  Moors  of  North  Africa,  where 
he  perished  at  their  hands  by  stoning,  —  a  Christian  martyr. 
This  interested  Dee  immensely  and  he  besought  his  good 
friend  to  use  his  influence  with  Rudolph  in  his  favor.  Instead 
of  so  doing,  however,  the  treacherous  Spaniard  told  his 
Majesty  that  Dee  was  a  bankrupt  adventurer,  a  conjurer  of 
infernal  demons,  who  was  practising  magical  arts  against 
the  Emperor's  person,  and  whose  only  object  at  Prague  was 
to  wheedle  him  out  of  silver  and  gold.  Some  of  this  Rudolph 
already  knew,  some  of  it  was  unfortunately  true,  but  the 
slanderous  accusation  greatly  prejudiced  Dee's  position  at 
court.  ^A  decree  of  banishment  was  issued,  and  Dee  and 
Kelley  fled  with  their  families  to  Cracow  where  they  still 
had  a  few  friends. 

The  finances  of  the  Englishmen  were  now  very  low,  and 
they  were  in  sore  straits  to  keep  up  the  appearance  of 
opulence  so  necessarj-  to  their  pretentions  as  possessors  of  the 
secrets  of  Hermes.  Fortune  favored  them,  however,  when 
they  gained  the  ear  of  Stephen,  King  of  Poland ;  in  the  royal 
presence  Dee  again  consulted  the  invaluable  "holy  stone," 
under  Kelley's  excellent  management  as  "skryer,"  and  the 
spirits  announced  that  Rudolph  would  soon  be  assassinated 
and  that  Stephen  himself  would  succeed  to  the  imperial 
throne.  This  flattering  prediction  pleased  the  King,  and  for 
a  time  he  furnished  money  for  experiments  in  transmutation, 
a  large  part  of  which  was  devoted  to  the  necessary  expenses 
of  the  English  families.  But  the  King  of  Poland  soon  grew 

42 


EDWARD   KELLEY,   "THE   GOLDEN    KNIGHT." 


weary  of  his  costly  proteges,  and  for  their  part  they  secured 
a  more  profitable  station  with  the  extremely  wealthy  William 
von  Rosenberg.  Their  return  to  Bohemia  was  conducted 
"  secretely,  yet  Rudolph  heard  of  it  and  sent  envoys  to  von 
Rosenberg  to  demand  their  persons,  but  the  powerful  noble 
was  bold  enough  to  refuse  to  surrender  them. 

While  in  Bohemia  the  artful  Doctor  deemed  it  prudent  to 
maintain  his  friendly  relations  with  Queen  Elizabeth  and  to 
remind  her  of  his  skill  in  alchemy ;  he  sent  her  accordingly  a 
small  disc  of  silver  the  size  of  a  ducat,  which  he  claimed  to 
have  made  out  of  brass  cut  from  a  warming-pan,  and  a  few 
weeks  afterward  he  dispatched  the  utensil  itself,  with  a 
circular  hole  cut  the  exact  size  of  the  silver  disc  as  tangible 
proof  of  his  claim.  By  such  transparent  tricks  sixteenth 
century  imposters  kept  alive  a  belief  in  alchemy  among 
persons  of  real  learning  and  of  experience  in  worldly  affairs. 

Meanwhile  at  von  Rosenberg's  palatial  mansion  in  Tre- 
bona,  Dee  met  with  great  success,  converting  pewter  flagons 
and  brass  platters  into  silver,  as  attested  by  expert  silver- 
smiths. At  this  time  Edward  Kelley  misbehaved  shamefully 
and  after  a  quarrel  with  Dee,  which  was  quite  justifiable  on 
Dee's  part,  deserted  him.  The  Doctor  was  in  dispair  having 
become  dependent  on  his  "skryer"  for  daily  spiritual  food; 
he  tried  to  initiate  his  youngest  son  in  clairvoyance  and 
consecrated  him  with  solemn  ceremonies,  but  the  boy  was 
unable  to  discern  visions,  and  to  hear  spirit  messages  in  the 
Shew-stone.  Kelley  had  anticipated  this  and  after  a  short 
absence  returned  to  Dee  who  welcomed  him  gladly  and 
granted  the  profligate  his  wicked  demands. 

After  five  years  absence  from  England,  John  Dee  received 
an  invitation  from  the  Queen  to  return.  He  had  saved  some 
money  while  with  Rosenberg  and  made  the  land  journey  in 
great  style,  having  three  coaches  for  himself  and  family, 

43 


drawn  each  by  four  horses,  several  baggage  wagons  and  a 
guard  of  twenty-four  armed  horsemen.  He  left  Trebona  in 
March,  1589,  and  travelled  via  Bremen,  where  he  received  a 
visit  from  a  famous  hermetic  philosopher,  Dr.  Heinrich 
Kunrath,  of  Hamburg,  and  conducted  amicable  correspon- 
dence with  the  Landgrave  of  Hesse,  to  whom  Dee  presented 
his  twelve  Hungarian  horses.  On  his  arrival  in  England,  in 
November,  he  found  that  his  residence  at  Mortlake  had  been 
pillaged  during  his  absence  by  a  mob  who  had  accused  him  of 
necromancy ;  all  his  furniture  had  been  broken,  his  valuable 
library  had  been  burned,  and  the  philosophical  instruments 
and  the  curiosities  in  his  museum  had  been  ruined  or  stolen. 
Dee  endeavored  to  get  compensation  from  the  state,  but 
though  the  Queen  received  him  graciously  at  Richmond,  he 
never  recovered  the  value  of  his  property.  Being  settled 
again  at  Mortlake,  he  was  occasionly  visited  by  Elizabeth  as 
of  old,  and  at  Christmas,  1590,  she  sent  him  two  hundred 
angels,  and  other  presents.  Being  in  favor  at  court  Dee 
carried  on  his  studies  and  experiments  without  molestation, 
but  six  years  passed  before  he  was  given  substantial  emolu- 
ments; in  1595  he  was  granted  the  Chancellorship  of  St. 
Paul's  Cathedral,  and  a  few  months  later  he  was  installed 
Warden  of  Manchester  College,  " wherein  he  had  the  un- 
happinesse  to  be  often  vext  with  the  Turbulent  Fellowes  of 
that  Colledge".  These  sinecures  he  held  until  his  death  in  the 
eighty -first  year  of  his  age,  "  deserving  the  Commendations 
of  all  learned  and  ingenious  Schollers,  and  to  be  remembered 
for  his  remarkable  Abilities." 

While  at  the  court  of  Ructolph  Dr.  Dee  had  kept  Kelley 
in  the  background,  through  mistrust  and  jealousy,  but  after 
Dee's  banishment  Kelley  secured  an  intimate  footing  in 
imperial  circles.  He  was  at  that  time  about  thirty  years  of 
age,  a  few  years  younger  than  the  Emperor ;  he  had  an 

44 


attractive  presence  to  those  that  overlooked  an  expression  of 
low  cunning,  and  he  acquired  a  courtly  manner  which  com- 
bined with  unbounded  assurance  helped  his  subtle  schemes; 
he  won  over  the  Emperor  completely,  promising  him  all  sorts 
of  impossible  things,  allowing  him  to  taste  an  Elixir  of  Life 
of  his  secret  manufacture,  and  giving  him  a  powder  warranted 
to  produce  gold,  being  a  portion  of  that  found  in  an  ivory 
ball  at  the  tomb  of  St.  Dunstan.  In  his  experiments  before 
the  Emperor,  Kelley  used  legerdemain  rather  than  metallurgi- 
cal knowledge,  rumor  magnified  his  seeming  success  and  his 
fame  became  great  throughout  Prague.  Rudolph  gave  him  a 
large  salary  as  court  alchemist,  and  endowed  him  with 
landed  estates ;  he  even  raised  the  scheming  charlatan  to  the 
dignity  of  a  Knight  of  the  Bohemian  Kingdom,  the  royal 
patent,  dated  the  twenty-third  of  February,  1590,  naming 
Sir  Edward  a  "Golden  Knight."  (Eques  auratus.) 

In  devising  transmutation  schemes  to  deceive  the  Emperor 
the  golden  Knight  was  obliged  to  avoid  the  well-known 
tricks  that  Dr.  von  Hayek  had  exposed  at  the  conference  on 
alchemy  held  in  his  parlors,  and  he  succeeded  in  arranging  a 
new  one  that  had  the  merits  of  safety,  simplicity  and  origin- 
ality. The  crafty  knave  informed  his  Majesty  that  he  should 
make  a  projection  with  his  own  royal  hands,  and  that  he, 
Kelley,  would  not  touch  the  crucibles,  the  coals  or  the  in- 
gredients, nor  would  he  permit  himself  or  his  assistant  to 
approach  the  furnace  during  the  operation.  Kelley  had  had 
constructed  a  large  wooden  box  with  a  strong  horizontal 
partition,  ostensibly  to  hold  the  apparatus  employed ;  beneath 
the  shallow  tray  he  concealed  his  brother,  who  was  both 
short  and  slight  and  capable  of  curling  up  into  a  surprisingly 
small  space.  When  the  day  arrived  for  the  grand  demonstra- 
tion, the  heavy  box  was  placed  in  the  imperial  laboratory 
tinder  Kelley 's  orders,  and  from  it  Rudolph's  trusted  alchemists 

45 


drew  the  crucibles,  tongs,  bellows,  and  charcoal,  as  well  as 
the  litharge,  orpiment,  borax  and  salt  required  for  the 
experiment.  Rudolph,  who  was  not  without  experience  in 
manipulation,  preceded  in  the  usual  fashion,  and  under  his 
direction  the  fire  was  pushed  to  a  white  heat;  then  as 
previously  agreed,  all  persons  withdrew  from  the  laboratory 
for  one  hour  so  that  the  spirits  whom  Sir  Edward  had  in- 
voked might  work  their  will  undisturbed.  No  sooner  had  the 
door  been  locked  and  sealed  by  the  Emperor  himself,  than 
young  Kelley  crawled  out  of  his  hiding-place,  stepped  quickly 
to  the  furnace,  threw  into  the  crucible  a  quantity  of  gold- 
filings  and  returned  to  his  tool-box,  the  hinged  partition 
closing  after  him.  The  instant  the  hour  had  elapsed  the 
royal  party  broke  the  seal,  unbolted  the  door,  and  reentering 
the  apartment  found  that  nothing  had  been  disturbed.  The 
fire  was  replenished  with  coals  and  maintained  at  great 
intensity  for  some  time  and  then  allowed  to  die  down ;  the 
crucible  was  cooled  and  broken  with  a  heavy  hammer,  in  the 
bottom  lay  a  bright  button  of  gold  delighting  all  beholders. 
The  Emperor  was  confirmed  in  his  belief  that  in  the  Golden 
Knight  he  had  a  prodigy,  and  Kelley  perceived  that  his 
brother  made  an  excellent  conspirator.  As  soon  as  convenient 
the  wooden  box  was  removed  to  Kelley 's  private  house  and 
the  prisoner  was  liberated  from  his  uncomfortable  retreat. 

Fully  three  years  Sir  Edward  lived  in  imperial  favor, 
busy  day  and  night  either  in  the  Hradschiner  laboratories  or 
in  gossiping  and  carousing  with  boon  companions  at  the 
Golden  Ball.  He  was  permitted  to  make  occasional  visits  to 
Prince  von  Rosenberg  at  his  estates  near  Krumau,  and 
authorities  affirm  that  the  Englishman  swindled  the  Bohemian 
out  of  the  enormous  sum  of  three  hundred  thousand  florins ; 
this  is  in  part  sustained  by  the  fact  that  the  foreigner  acquired 
valuable  landed  estates  in  the  kingdom.  Kelley  lived  in  lavish 

46 


style  and  ostentatiously  bestowed  gifts  on  persons  likely  to 
gossip  about  his  wealth;  upon  the  occasion  of  the  marriage 
of  one  his  maid-servants  he  gave  away  rings,  twisted  with 
three  gold  wires,  to  the  value  of  four  thousand  pounds, 
which  caused  the  English  author  and  antiquarian,  Elias 
Ashmole,  to  remark,  a  century  later: —  "This  was  highly 
generous,  but  to  say  the  truth,  openly  profuse  beyond  the 
modest  limits  of  a  sober  philosopher." 

The  good  fortune  of  Sir  Edward  culminated  with  this 
opportunity  of  fleecing  two  wealthy  dupes  simultaneously, 
and  it  terminated  suddenly  through  an  unforseen  event.  A 
quarrel  with  one  of  the  Emperor's  retainers  led  to  a  duel, 
and  unfortunately  Kelley  slew  his  antagonist.  Rudolph  was 
especially  severe  towards  duellists,  and  made  no  exception  in 
behalf  of  his  favorite  alchemist.  Threatened  with  the  dis- 
pleasure of  a  despot,  he  fled  for  his  life,  but  was  pursued  by 
dragoons,  captured  and  confined  in  the  White  Tower  on  the 
Hradschin;  a  short  time  afterward  he  was  transported  to 
Purglitz  and  thrust  into  a  horrible  dungeon.  The  miserable 
man  fallen  from  so  high  a  position,  was  treated  with  great 
severity  like  a  common  malefactor ;  his  food  was  passed  into 
his  cell  through  a  hole  in  the  door,  and  he  was  refused  the 
consolation  of  writing  materials  and  books.  But  even  a 
worse  fate  was  in  store  for  him ;  the  Emperor  finding  him  in 
his  power  formed  the  plan  of  wresting  from  him  the  secret  of 
the  manufacture  of  the  gold  producting  powder.  Sir  Edward 
was  put  to  torture  and  while  in  bodily  agony  questioned  by 
the  Governor  of  the  Castle.  A  letter  dated  the  eighth  of 
February,  1592,  written  by  the  Emperor's  secretary  to  the 
Governor,  "cltscloses  the  details  to  be  extorted  from  the 
wretched  prisoner ;  the  Emperor  wished  to  learn :  — 

First ;  in  what  way  can  the  four  pounds  of  tincture  found 
at  Kelley 's  house  be  purified  and  used  in  projections? 

47 


Secondly;  how  is  the  potable  gold  prepared  that  Kelley 
gave  Rudolph  to  taste? 

Thirdly;  how  is  the  apparatus  called  Tritrop  used? 

Fourthly;  how  is  white  earth,  or  unripe  silver,  manu- 
factured ? 

Fifthly;  how  are  certain  precious  stones  made  by  arti- 
fice? 

Lastly ;  what  is  the  signification  of  the  secret  characters 
in  Kelley's  note-book? 

The  unhappy  victim  could  not  have  answered  these 
queries  under  ordinary  circumstances  and  torture  was  un- 
availing. Failing  in  this  attempt  to  force  Kelley,  he  was 
treated  more  leniently  for  a  while  and  allowed  paper,  pens 
and  books. 

The  news  of  Kelley's  pitiable  plight  reached  Dee  at  Mort- 
[  lake,  and  he  besought  Queen  Elizabeth  to  appeal  to  Emperor 
Rudolph  to  release  the  Englishman,  but  in  vain.  The  prisoner 
hearing  of  this  fruitless  attempt  at  succor,  planed  an  escape; 
friends  outside  bribed  the  jailors  and  gave  drugged  liquor  to 
the  sentinels,  placed  horses  at  convenient  points  and  made 
all  preparations  for  flight.  Kelley  got  out  of  his  dungeon 
but  in  attempting  to  let  himself  down  from  the  outer  wall 
of  the  castle  by  a  rope,  fell,  broke  his  leg  and  injured  himself 
internally ;  he  was  immediately  recaptured  and  again  immured 
in  the  fortress,  where  he  was  shortly  relieved  of  his  sufferings 
by  death.  Sir  Edward  was  then  about  forty-two  years  of 
age;  some  authorities  say  he  was  an  Irishman  by  birth,  and 
that  his  real  name  was  Talbot,  which  he  dropped  after  his 
punishment  for  forgery. 

While  in  captivity  Kelley  composed  a  trea^  e  in  Latin  on 
the  "Stone  of  Philosophers,"  which  he  dedicated,  '»  October, 
1596,  "To  the  most  potent  Lord  of  the  Holy  Roma...  ipire, 

48 


Rudolph  II.,  King  of  Hungary  and  Bohemia".  The  opening 
paragraph,  addressed  to  his  old  patron,  exhibits  his  bold 
arrogance  that  never  forsook  him  even  in  distress :  — 

"Though  I  have  already  twice  suffered  chains  and 
imprisonment  in  Bohemia,  an  indignity  which  has  been 
offered  to  me  in  no  other  part  of  the  world,  yet  my  mind 
remaining  unbound,  has  all  this  time  exercised  itself  in 
the  study  of  that  philosophy  which  is  despised  only  by 
the  wicked  and  foolish  but  is  praised  and  admired  by  the 
wise.  Nay,  the  saying  that  none  but  fools  and  lawyers 
hate  and  despise  alchemy  has  passed  into  a  proverb. 
Furthermore,  as  during  the  preceding  three  years  I  have 
used  great  labor,  expense  and  care  in  order  to  discover 
for  your  Majesty  that  which  might  afford  you  much 
profit  and  pleasure,  so  during  my  imprissonment  —  a 
calamity  which  has  befallen  me  through  the  action  of 
your  Majesty — I  am  utterly  incapable  of  remaining  idle. 
Hence  I  have  written  a  treatise  by  means  of  which  your 
imperial  mind  may  be  guided  into  all  the  truth  of  the 
ancient  philosophy;  but  if  my  teaching  displease  you, 
know  that  you  are  still  altogether  wandering  astray 
from  the  true  scope  and  aim  of  this  matter,  and  are  utterly 
wasting  your  money,  time,  labor  and  hopes  .  .  .  Nothing 
is  more  ancient,  excellent,  or  desirable  than  truth  and 
whosoever  neglects  it  must  pass  his  whole  life  in  the 
shade  ...  I  venture  to  hope,  however,  that  my  life  and 
character  will  so  become  known  to  posterity  that  I  may 
be  counted  among  those  who  have  suffered  much  for  the 
sake  of  truth." 

Shakespeare    might   have   had    this  arrogant  boaster  in 
mind  when  he  wrote:  — 

"The  empty  vessel  makes  the  greatest  sound." 

49 


Elias  Ashmole  prints  in  the  "Theatrum  Chemicum  Bri- 
tannicum"  (London,  1652)  the  "scheame  of  nativity"  of 
Kelley  and  shows  that  it  was  impossible  for  this  "Philo- 
sophus  Dubius"  to  escape  the  hard  fate  decreed  him  by  the 
stars  because  of  the  " Dragon's  Tayle"  in  the  Ascendant. 


KELLEY'S  HOROSCOPE. 

When  the  news  of  Sir  Edward's  tragic  death  reached  the 
Hradschin,  his  entire  property  was  confiscated,  and  the 
Emperor's  ridiculous  poet  Mardocheus  de  Delle  wrote  some 
affecting  lines  which  lose  their  charm  if  translated :  — 

"Bin  Engellander,  Eduard  Kellaus  zu  Prag, 
Von  dem  ich  noch  wahrhaftig  sag, 
Kam  zum  alten  Herrn  von  Rosenberg 
Und  gab  da  vor  ein  grosses  Werk, 
Tingirt  in  lauter  Gold  ganz  hoch. 
50 


Dcr  Kaiser  Rudolph  erfuhr  es  auch, 

Liess  vor  sich  kommen  diesen  Held, 

Gab  ihn  gross  Gut  und  Geld. 

Da  der  Kaiser  mit  seinen  Augen  sah 

Was  der  Natur  Kunst  vermag, 

Das  that  dem  Kaiser  behagen, 

Liess  ihm  offentlich  zum  Ritter  schlagen. 

Nach  grosser  Freud  kam  Traurigkeit, 

Mit  Jiirgen  Hunkler  kam  er  in  Streit ; 

Kcllaus  den  Hunkler  hat  erstochen. 

Das  liess  der  Kaiser  nicht  ungerochen. 

Kellaus  ins  Gefangniss  kam, 

Dadurch  er  auch  sein  Ende  nahm; 

Zerbrach  in  fliehen  das  eine  Bein, 

Musst  also  sterben  ganz  allein. 

Ach  wo  mag  seine  Tinctur  sein? 

Sie  ist  noch  nicht  erfunden 

Bis  auf  die  heuti«ren  Stunden." 


51 


CHAPTER  VI. 
RUDOLPH'S  ART-TREASURES. 

"Wherever  power,  or  pride,  or  wealth  keep  court, 

Behold  this  fulsome  race  resort: 

A  motley  group — a  party-coloured  pack, 

Of  knave  and  fool— of  quidnunck,  and  of  quack, 

*        »       * 

Dabblers  in  science— dealers  in  virtue, 
And  S3Tcophants  of  every  form  and  hue. 
Low  Artists  too,  a  busy  babbling  fry, 
That  frisk  and  wriggle  in  a  great  man's  eye." 

Sir  Martin  Shee. 

]HE  M^CENAS  of  Bohemia,  as  Rudolph  was  styled, 
besides  devoting  his  energies  to  alchemy  and  the 
occult  sciences  was  a  liberal  patron  of  art,  and  in 
this  activity  showed  the  same  weakness,  extra- 
vagance and  caprice  as  when  dealing  with  the  disciples  of 
Hermes.  He  collected  at  enormous  expense,  and  without 
definite  purpose,  beautiful  examples  of  the  art  of  the  sculptor 
and  of  the  painter^  as  well  as  costly  objects  of  artistic  and 
historical  interest,  and  crowded  them  with  no  attempt  at 
intelligent  arrangement  into  rooms,  corridors  and  great  halls 
of  the  imperial  palace.  Rudolph's  passion  for  art  was  not 
without  precedent  on  the  part  of  those  who  had  occupied  the 
imperial  throne;  the  stately  cathedral  of  Carl  IV.,  the  ex- 
quisite Belvedere  of  Ferdinand,  and  the  Byzantine,  Italian 
and  German  pictures  decorating  the  same  Cathedral  and  the 

52 


UNIVERSITY 


Castle  Karlstein,  were  noble  examples  of  art  well  calculated 
to  stimulate  the  beholder  to  further  acquisitions.  The 
Emperor  was  undoubtedly  influenced  by  the  success  of  the 
Archduke  Ferdinand  of  Tyrol,  for  fifteen  years  Governor  of 
Bohemia,  in  forming  the  remarkable  collection  at  the  Castle 
Ambras,  the  richness  of  which  can  hardly  be  appreciated  by 
the  few  specimens  still  preserved  in  the  imperial  museum  at 
Vienna. 

The  nucleus  of  Rudolph's  world -renowned  "Kunst- 
Kammer"  was  formed  by  the  union  and  removal  to  the 
Hradschin  of  two  great  collections,  that  of  Maximilian  II. 
at  Vienna,  and  one  gathered  by  the  noted  art-connoisseur 
Jacopo  di  Strada,  of  Mantua.  This  learned  antiquarian  and 
numismatist,  author  of  several  works  on  coins  and  medals, 
was  one  of  the  first  to  apply  knowledge  of  these  objects  to 
the  elucidation  of  histor}^ ;  as  a  profound  student  of  antiqui- 
ties he  perceived  too  their  historical  bearing  and  did  much  to 
establish  archaeology  as  a  science.  While  residing  in  Italy  he 
formed  acquaintances  with  prominent  artists,  sat  for  his 
portrait  to  Titian  (a  painting  now  preserved  in  Vienna,)  and 
acquired  a  good  knowledge  of  their  masterpieces;  under 
Maximilian  he  became  curator  of  the  Viennese  Galleries  and 
within  a  year  after  Rudolph's  accession  to  the  throne,  he 
was  invited  to  Prague  and  appointed  custodian  of  the 
imperial  collections.  Strada  and  his  son  Octavius  soon 
secured  great  influence  at  the  court;  Rudolph  placed  the 
utmost  confidence  in  his  fidelity  and  judgment  and  raised 
him  to  the  dignity  of  a  Knight  with  the  appellation  "von 
Rossberg".  The  intimacy  was  undoubtedly  strengthened  by 
Rudolph's  passion  for  Strada's  extremely  beautiful  daughter, 
who  bore  the  Emperor  three  sons  and  three  daughters. 

Agents  in  every  part  of  the  world  sought  for  the  imperial 
museum  natural  curiosities,  antiquities,  and  art-rarities;  not 

53 


only  -were  Germany  and  Italy  ransacked  for  treasures,  but 
Greece,  the  Levant,  Egypt  and  even  America  contributed  their 
quota;  from  the  New  World  notable  specimens  of  Indian 
curiosities  were  secured.  Although  often  hampered  by  lack 
of  funds  to  meet  national  demands  of  prime  importance,  the 
Emperor  always  found  money  for  the  purchase  of  the  articles 
collected  by  Strada  and  his  agents.  Frequent  and  large  levies 
were  exacted  by  the  crown  from  the  impoverished  people, 
nominally  to  defray  expenses  of  the  exhausting  war  with  the 
Turks,  and  it  has  been  suggested,  perhaps  unjustly,  that  a 
portion  of  this  gold  was  applied  to  the  Emperor's  personal 
hobbies.  No  extravagance  was  too  great  provided  the  ends 
were  attained;  absurdly  high  prices  were  paid  the  wiry 
emissaries  who  knew  how  to  profit  by  the  Emperor's  weak- 
ness and  credulity. 

The  cabinet  of  curiosities  and  gallery  of  art  grew  very 
rapidly,  soon  overflowing  the  great  Spanish  Hall,  the  German 
Hall,  and  filling  the  entire  floor  of  one  wing  of  the  huge 
palace.  The  collections  were  frequently  increased  by  costly 
presents  from  Bohemian  noblemen,  foreign  potentates  and 
city  magnates  who  desired  to  secure  the  good-will  of  the 
Emperor  for  personal  or  political  advantage;  the  Elector  of 
the  Palatinate  contributed  an  exquisitely  carved  ivory  altar ; 
Count  Fugger  sent  the  Emperor  a  marble  sarcophagus  found 
near  Athens,  ornamented  with  reliefs  of  the  battle  of  the 
Amazons;  Count  Khevenhiller,  a  Spanish  Grandee,  presented 
to  the  gallery  several  paintings  by  Titian,  by  Pietro  Rosa 
and  by  Parmigianino ;  and  the  Burgomaster  of  Nuremberg 
added  Holbein's  valuable  picture  "Isaac  blessing  Jacob"  as 
well  as  Diirer's  " Trinity." 

Mingled  in  dire  confusion  with  superb  treasures  of  art  of 
highest  rarity  and  priceless  value  were  worthless  objects 
bought  in  ignorance  and  preserved  through  credulity,  such 

54 


as  monstrous  animals  having  an  abnormal  number  of  heads 
or  legs,  the  teeth  of  a  mermaid  captured  in  the  Aegean  sea, 
the  horn  of  an  unicorn,  the  feathers  of  a  phoenix,  the  claws 
of  a  salamander  and  other  natural  history  specimens  of 
doubtful  authenticity.  Unscrupulous  dealers  in  fraudulent 
antiquities  palmed  off  on  the  Emperor's  curator  the  cap  and 
sandals  of  Duke  Premysl,  and  two  iron  nails  from  Noah's  ark! 

The  horn  of  the  unicorn  was  actually  the  tooth  of  the 
narwhal;  it  was  valued  as  a  miraculous  remedy  for  certain 
diseases.  A  specimen  at  Dresden  was  supposed  to  be  worth 
seventy-five  thousand  dollars,  and  on  the  rare  occasions  when 
a  piece  was  sawed  off  for  medicinal  purposes  two  delegates 
of  princely  rank  were  required  to  be  present  at  the  ceremony. 
The  Duke  Premysl,  just  named,  was  one  of  the  semi-mythical 
heroes  of  Bohemia ;  a  peasant  farmer,  he  became  the  husband 
of  Libusa  the  first  judge  of  the  people,  and  was  called  from 
the  plough  to  the  throne.  Cosmas,  writing  in  the  eleventh 
century,  says:  "PremysPs  boots  are  preserved  at  Vyschrad  in 
the  Duke's  room  to  this  day." 

One  of  Rudolph's  favorite  fads  was  the  collection,  cutting 
and  polishing  of  bright-colored  stones  and  precious  gems; 
lapidaries  and  jewelers  sent  to  the  Riesengebirge  and  other 
mining  regions  brought  back  agates,  jaspers  and  semi-precious 
stones,  which  Rudolph  had  cut  and  polished  so  as  to  bring 
out  the  variety  and  brilliancy  of  their  colors.  From  such  he 
had  a  table-top  made,  of  small  pieces  ornamented  with 
valuable  gems,  valued  at  more  than  one  thousand  ducats  and 
classed  by  Dr.  Guarinonius  as  one  of  the  wonders  of  the 
world.  The  Emperor  employed  many  workmen  skilled  in  the 
arts  of  the  lapidary  and  these  always  had  free  access  to  his 
Majesty,  while  Ambassadors  from  foreign  courts,  privy 
ministers  and  officers  of  state  often  waited  for  days  together 
to  secure  an  unwilling  audience;  he  preferred  to  spend  long 

55 


hours  watching  the  revolutions  of  the  lathes  and  the  swing 
of  the  polishing  stones,  to  listening  to  the  appeals  of  his 
councillors  for  advice  on  religious  problems  and  political 
exigencies  which  were  threatening  disaster  to  the  Empire. 

Mineralogy  as  a  science  had  no  existence;  an  empirical 
knowledge  of  the  value  of  ores  and  of  the  methods  of  extract- 
ing the  useful  constituents  was  all  that  learned  men  had 
attained;  it  is  hardly  surprising  therefore  that  Rudolph  set 
a  high  value  on  specimens  of  rocks  and  minerals  having 
accidental  markings  on  their  surface  that  bore  fancied 
resemblances  to  natural  objects,  such  as  clouds,  marshes, 
rivers,  cities,  plants,  animals,  letters  of  the  alphabet,  and 
even  the  features  of  the  Saints.  For  these  and  for  lodes  tones, 
thunder-stones  so-called,  and  stones  believed  to  increase  in 
size  as  they  reposed  on  the  shelves  of  the  cabinet,  extra- 
ordinary prices  were  paid,  relatively  higher  than  for  the 
magnificent  emeralds,  sapphires,  opals,  topazes,  pearls  and 
diamonds  that  gave  real  value  to  the  imperial  collections. 
Among  the  highly  prized  curiosities  were  a  skull  carved  out 
of  yellow  agate,  an  ewer  and  basin  of  rock  crystal  bought 
of  Octavio  Miseroni  for  eight  hundred  thalers,  and  a  bowl 
of  the  same  translucent  material,  valued  at  twenty  thousand 
thalers,  now  preserved  in  the  royal  museum  at  Vienna. 

Josef  Svatek,  the  Bohemian  historian,  whose  essay  we 
follow,  likens  the  Rudolphine  cabinet  of  curiosities  to  the 
heterogeneous  assemblage  in  Barnum's  museum  long  time  one 
of  the  sights  of  New  York  city;  and  with  some  reason,  for 
besides  the  objects  above  named,  might  have  been  seen  the 
following:  Mummies  and  other  Egyptian  antiquities,  ethno- 
logical curiosities  of  American  Indians,  stuffed  birds  and  bird 
eggs  from  the  four  quarters  of  the  globe,  ivory  carvings  of 
exquisite  workmanship  in  great  variety,  a  small  altar  of 
silver  inlaid  with  gold,  artistic  and  unusual  clocks,  a  superb 

56 


collection  of  ancient  armor  and  weapons,  (now  preserved  in 
part  at  Vienna),  a  huge  Venetian  mirror  of  polished  steel, 
thousands  of  coins  and  medals,  engraved   cameos,    oriental 
porcelains,  miniatures,  bronze  figures,  antique  vases,  alabaster 
statuettes,    marble   statues  and  oil  paintings.     Perhaps  the 
most  famous  of  the  art  treasures  was  the  statue  of  Ilioneus,  \ 
son  of  ^iob^Jbought  by  John  von  Achen  of  a  Jew  dealer  in   I 
Rome  for  thirty -four  thousand  ducats ;  it  has  been  ascribed  \ 
to  Scopas;    in  Rudolph's    day   it    was    entire,    but   through 
shocking   carelessness    it   became    a    torso,    and  in  the  year 
1782,  it  was  pulled  out  of  a  dark  cellar  beneath  the  Castle 
and  sold  at  auction  for  fifty-one  kreutzers,  a  sum  equal  to 
about  thirteen  cents  of  the  money  of  the  United  States. 

The  paintings  hanging  partly  in  rooms  whose  floor-space 
was  crowded  with  the  objects  named,  and  partly  in  the 
chambers  and  salons  of  the  palace,  for  there  was  no  art- 
gallery  properly  speaking,  numbered  no  less  than  seven 
hundred  and  sixty-four  canvasses  and  comprised  works  by 
Raphael,  Titian,  Correggio,  Paul  Veronese,  Leonardo  da  Vinci, 
Giulio  Romano,  and  Tintoretto,  as  well  as  fine  examples  of 
the  Spanish  and  Flemish  schools.  A  number  of  these  had 
been  purchased  in  1580  from  the  Imhoff  Gallery  at  Nurem- 
berg; they  comprised  a  "Saint  Bartholomew"  by  Raphael, 
a  "Bacchus,  Diana  and  Venus"  by  Paris  Bordone  of  Venice, 
a  painting  on  wood  by  von  Pentz  representing  "Abraham, 
Sarah  and  Hagar,"  and  Diirer's  "Burning  of  Sodom  and 
Gomorrah,"  together  with  a  collection  of  Diirer's  drawings 
and  his  sketch-book.  The  Rudolphine  gallery  was  very  rich 
in  the  works  of  Albrecht  Diirer,  no  pains  being  spared  to 
secure  them;  his  "Feast  of  the  Rose-Garlands"  (Rosenkranz- 
fest),  painted  in  1505  for  the  church  of  St.  Bartholomew  in 
Venice,  was  bought  by  Johann  von  Achen  for  a  prodigious 
sum  and  transported  across  the  Alps  on  the  shoulders  of 

57 


four  stout  and  trusty  men,  thus  reaching  Prague  without 
damage. 

These  magnificent  paintings  were  not  arranged  according 
to  any  system,  the  names  of  the  artists  were  seldom  attached, 
though  some  bore  the  name  of  the  places  where  they  had 
been  obtained.  They  were  hung  on  the  walls  without 
reference  to  light,  convenience  of  sight,  age  or  school  of 
painting;  when  one  hall  or  corridor  was  filled  with  curio- 
sities and  paintings  the  adjoining  one  was  opened  and  the 
heterogeneous  collections  stored  therein  until  it  in  turn 
became  crowded.  In  justice  to  Strada,  Johann  von  Achen 
and  other  artists,  it  must  be  said  that  this  lack  of  system 
was  due  chiefly  to  the  will  of  the  autocratic  Emperor  who 
regarded  the  treasures  as  his  personal  property,  to  be  kept 
strictly  private  and  not  designed  to  promote  the  study  of 
art.  Rudolph  had  a  large  number  of  artists  engaged  in 
decorating  the  palace  and  in  painting  easel  pictures,  but  they 
were  of  mediocre  ability ;  they  profited  little  by  contact  with 
the  masterpieces  with  which  they  became  acquainted  and 
they  left  no  evidence  of  superior  skill.  Indeed  some  of  them 
were  guilty  of  the  atrocity  of  whitewashing  over  the  superb 
ancient  frescoes  on  the  walls  of  the  Castle  of  Karlstein,  and 
painting  on  the  new  surface  crude  scenes  of  Biblical  history 
in  semi-barbarous  style;  a  life-size  figure  of  the  Virgin  was 
beautified  (?)  by  one  of  the  court  artists  by  adding  a  brilliant 
sunbeam  which  covered  a  portion  of  the  figure  in  a  ridiculous 
fashion  as  with  a  fringed  scarf. 

The  oldest  and  one  of  the  most  eminent  of  the  royal 
artists  was  Bartholomew  Spranger,  born  in  the  Netherlands 
and  trained  in  Italy.  Being  recommended  to  Maximilian  in 
1575,  he  executed  for  his  Majesty,  and  afterwards  for  Rudolph, 
important  decorative  works  on  the  palace  walls;  the  latter 
monarch  enobled  Spranger  who  took  the  cognomen  "van  den 

58 


Schilden."  His  best  known  paintings  are  the  " Allegory  on 
the  virtues  of  Rudolph"  (now  in  the  Vienna  gallery),  "Mars 
with  Venus  and  Cupid"  (also  in  Vienna),  '  'Diana  and  Nymphs" 
(in  Stockholm),  "Venus  served  by  the  Graces"  (St.  Peters- 
burg), "Cupid  and  Psyche"  (Stuttgart),  and  portraits  of 
members  of  noble  families. 

Johann  von  Achen,  already  mentioned  several  times,  was 
born  in  Cologne;  while  quite  young  he  went  to  Italy  and 
became  a  pupil  of  Michelangelo  and  of  Tintoretto,  and  on  his 
return  he  secured  an  appointment  under  Rudolph.  He  was 
noted  chiefly  for  his  portraits  and  historical  scenes,  as  well 
as  for  mythological  and  genre  paintings;  his  canvas  entitled 
"Truth  victorious  under  the  protection  of  Justice"  is  preserved 
in  Vienna. 

Much  younger  than  these  artists  was  the  Flemish  painter 
of  landscapes  and  animals,  Roelant  Savary,  who  was  sent 
by  Rudolph  to  study  for  two  years  in  the  Tyrolese  Alps,  an 
act  of  liberality  which  should  be  remembered  to  the  Emperor's 
credit.  Savary's  best  works  were  not  produced  until  after 
Rudolph's  death. 

Besides  objects  intended  to  please  the  eye,  the  imperial 
museum  contained  a  collection  of  musical  instruments,  both 
wind  and  string,  which  were  regarded  by  the  court  musicians 
with  ill-disguised  contempt  as  of  mere  antiquarian  interest. 
The  most  eminent  of  these  musicians,  Filippo  da  Monte  and 
Andrea  Mosto,  were  from  Italy,  but  the  musical  entertain- 
ments of  the  court  were  usually  intrusted  to  the  Nuremberger, 
Johann  Leonhard  Haster,  who  afterwards  distinguished  him- 
self at  the  court  of  Christian  II.,  Elector  of  Saxony.  The 
concerts  were  sometimes  given  in  the  large  hall  used  for  state 
balls  situated  opposite  the  great  "Turnier  Haus."  In  the 
earlier  years  of  his  reign,  before  hypochondria  made  Rudolph 
withdraw  from  society,  the  court  balls  were  brilliant  pageants, 

59 


and  quite  a  retinue  of  persons  were  assigned  the  duty  of  con- 
ducting them  under  the  direction  of  the  imperial  dancing- 
master  Alfonso  Pasetti  of  Ferrara. 

For  thirty  years  Rudolph  guarded  his  superb  collection 
of  pictures,  statuary,  antiquities  and  curiosities  with  jealous 
care;  its  fame  attracted  many  visitors  to  Prague,  but  access 
to  the  treasures  was  only  obtained  through  personal  friend- 
ship with  Strada  or  some  of  the  officers  of  the  court ;  as  the 
Emperor  grew  older  he  protected  the  collections  more  closely 
from  the  gaze  of  strangers,  and  the  magnificent  masterpieces 
of  art  exerted  no  educational  influence  on  rising  painters  and 
sculptors. 

Jacopo  di  Strada  received  the  title  of  Court  Antiquary ; 
he  lived  in  the  Castle  and  dined  from  the  royal  kitchen,  and 
received  the  yearly  salary  of  one  hundred  gold  gulden,  a  hand- 
some sum  at  that  period.  In  company  with  Strada,  Rudolph 
spent  entire  days  in  the  cabinets,  devoting  his  nights  to  his 
astrologers  and  alchemists.  When  Strada  died  in  1585  he 
was  succeeded  by  his  son  Octavius,  who  in  turn  was  followed 
by  Dionysius  Miseroni,  who  had  entered  the  imperial  service 
as  lapidary  in  1590. 

In  his  later  years  as  his  disposition  to  believe  in  chimerical 
problems  increased  Rudolph  paid  more  attention  to  the 
charlatans  who  imposed  on  his  good  nature  than  he  did  to 
the  legitimate  artists;  as  has  been  shown  the  notorious 
trickster  Kelley,  after  a  few  exhibitions  of  legerdemain , 
received  from  him  landed  estates  and  a  patent  of  nobility, 
whereas  Johann  von  Achen,  the  eminent  painter  of  historical 
scenes,  drew  a  monthly  salary  of  only  twenty -five  florins  after 
many  years  of  honorable  service ;  nevertheless  von  Achen  and 
Spranger  were  favorites  with  the  Emperor,  who  often 
required  them  to  place  their  easels  in  his  private  apartments 
for  the  pleasure  of  watching  their  work  with  palettes  and 

60 


wMIYERSITY 


brushes  ;  sometimes  too  he  received  from  them  instruction  in 
their  art,  for  Rudolph  himself  painted  with  considerable  skill 
and  had  the  rare  faculty  of  catching  the  likeness  when  at 
work  on  portraits.  History  relates  that  Rudolph's  imperial 
grandfather  Charles  V.,  watching  Titian  at  work  on  a  canvas, 
handed  the  artist  a  brush  that  had  fallen  to  the  floor;  the 
eminent  painter  remonstrated,  but  his  Majesty  replied:  "A 
Titian  is  worthy  to  be  served  by  an  Emperor." 

The  riches  of  the  Rudolphine  "Kunst-Kammer"  were  well- 
nigh  priceless  ;  the  archaeologist  Jules  Caesar  Boulenger,  who 
died  in  1628,  estimated  the  gold  and  silver  articles,  the 
precious  stones  and  pearls  at  seventeen  millions  of  gold 
gulden.  After  its  founder's  death  it  was  sadly  neglected  and 
became  the  prey  of  the  nations  at  war  with  Bohemia  ;  the 
eyes  of  all  Europe  were  fixed  on  these  treasures,  and  the  final 
blow  of  the  Thirty  Years  War  was  struck  with  the  special 
object  of  despoiling  them  ;  the  Swedish  army  attacked  the 
Castle  on  the  Hradschin  at  the  very  moment  of  the  con- 
clusion of  the  Peace  of  Westphalia.  A  Bohemian  writer  says 
the  perfidy  was  undertaken  with  a  view  to  pillage  at  the 
suggestion  of  Oxenstierna  ;  however  this  may  be,  whole  ship- 
loads of  precious  treasures  were  sent  to  Stockholm;  the 
remainder  was  transferred  to  Vienna  and  the  other  cities  of 
the  German  Empire,  leaving  very  little  in  Prague  as  a 
souvenir  of  its  former  grandeur. 

Rudolph's  position  as  an  imperial  patron  of  art  has  been 
compared  to  that  of  the  Medici  family  in  Italy,  who  by 
liberal  orders  encouraged  the  great  creative  geniuses  of  the 
period,  but  this  is  giving  the  German  monarch  too  great 
credit,  as  the  artists  in  Prague  were  mainly  mere  copyists 
and  exerted  little  influence  on  the  progress  of  art. 


61 


CHAPTER  VII. 


SEEKING  THE  PHILOSOPHERS'  STONE. 

"The  mischief  a  secret  any  of  them  know,  above  the  con- 
suming of  coals  and  drawing  of  usquebaugh !  Howsoever  they 
may  pretend,  under  the  specious  names  of  Geber,  Arnold,  Lully 
or  Bombast  von  Hohenheim,  to  commit  miracles  in  art  and 
treason  against  nature!  As  if  the  title  of  Philosopher,  that 
creature  of  glory,  were  to  be  fetched  out  of  a  furnace." 

Ben  Jettison's  Masque. 

JLBRECHT  YON  BOLLSTADT,  commonly  known  as 
Albertus  Magnus,  the  great  oracle  of  savants  in  the 
Middle  Ages,  enumerated  the  conditions  to  be  ob- 
served by  persons  seeking  the  Philosophers'  stone; 

in  the  treatise  De  Alchimia,  written  in  the  thirteenth  century, 

he  says : 

I.    The  alchemist  should  be  discreet  and  silent,  revealing 

to  no  one  the  results  of  his  operations. 
He  should  reside  in  a  private  house,  in  an  isolated 

situation,  containing  two  or  three  rooms  set  apart 

for  the  experiments. 
He  should  choose  his  days  and  hours  for  labor  with 

discretion. 

He  should  have  patience,  diligence  and  perseverance. 
He  should  perform  according  to   fixed  rules  tritura- 

tion,    sublimation,   fixation,  calcination,  solution, 

distillation  and  coagulation. 

62 


II. 


III. 

IV. 
V. 


VI.    He  should  use  only  vessels  of  glass  or  glazed  earthen- 
ware. 
VII.    He  should  be  sufficiently  rich  to  bear  the  expenses 

of  his  art. 

VIII.    He  should  avoid  having  anything  to  do  with  Princes 
and  Noblemen. 

Much  sound  advice  is  contained  in  these  words  of  wisdom, 
but  unfortunately  for  the  students  of  hermetic  lore  they  seldom 
obeyed  the  last  two  injunctions,  but  plunged  into  the  fasci- 
nating pursuit  of  wealth  without  counting  the  cost,  and  were 
generally  very  eager  to  secure  the  favor  of  powerful  and 
opulent  patrons.  A  notable  exception  to  this  was  seen  in  the 
case  of  a  Westphalian,  whose  name  has  not  been  preserved, 
and  whose  skill  in  transmutation  aroused  the  cupidity  of 
Rudolph.  The  Emperor  sent  a  trusty  messenger  to  invite  the 
alchemist  to  his  court,  but  the  man  resisted  every  inducement 
oifered,  saying:  "If  I  possess  the  Philosophers'  stone  I  have 
no  need  of  the  Emperor,  if  I  do  not  possess  it  the  Emperor 
has  no  need  of  me."  The  messenger  returned  to  Prague  with- 
out this  witty  coiner  of  epigrams,  and  Rudolph  had  to  con- 
tent himself  with  correspondence  with  the  recalcitrant  adept. 

Throughout  Rudolph's  reign  intense  activity  in  alchemical 
research  prevailed  not  only  in  Bohemia,  but  in  all  Europe; 
nor  was  the  German  Emperor  the  only  potentate  who 
coquetted  with  the  enticing  and  elusive  damsel.  Frederick,' 
Duke  of  Wurtemberg,  was  devoted  to  the  pseudo-science; 
journeymen  alchemists  were  always  welcomed  at  his  palace, 
and  he  incurred  in  futile  experiments  such  enormous  expenses 
that  the  Chamber  of  Deputies  passed  restrictive  resolutions. 
Augustus,  Elector  of  Saxony,  not  only  employed  salaried 
adepts,  but  worked  with  his  own  hands  in  his  private  labora- 
tory built  in  Dresden,  known  to  the  citizens  as  the  "Gold- 
House."  He  seems  to  have  attained  to  the  wonder  working 

63 


"tincture,"  for  in  1577  he  wrote  to  an  Italian  alchemist, 
Francesco  Forense:  "I  have  now  reached  such  perfection  in 
transmutation  that  I  can  make  daily  three  ounces  of  good 
gold  from  eight  ounces  of  silver." 

One  of  Augustus'  salaried  operators  named  David  Beuther 
was  trained  in  the  royal  laboratory  from  his  youth,  having 
been  taught  assa^'ing  and  employed  in  the  mint.  One  day 
when  Beuther  was  working  alone  in  the  cloisters  that  served 
him  for  sleeping  room,  salon  and  workshop,  he  saw  a  cord 
jutting  out  through  a  break  in  the  wall ;  on  pulling  it  hard 
some  plaster  fell  down  and  disclosed  a  small  square  hewn 
stone  behind  which  he  found  a  silver  box  containing  a  large 
supply  of  the  Philosophers'  stone.  Having  tested  its  virtues 
and  found  it  powerful  in  transmutation  of  base  metals  and 
multiplication  of  precious  ones,  he  neglected  his  master's  work 
and  began  to  lead  a  careless,  spendthrift  life,  idling  with  boon 
companions.  When  in  need  of  gold  he  used  a  little  of  the 
"magistery"  in  projection;'  these  operations  he  kept  secret 
for  some  time,  but  finally  he  admitted  two  of  his  intimates 
to  witness  "the  great  work"  under  promise  of  secrecy.  These 
young  men  became  envious  of  their  friend's  good  fortune  and 
reported  Beuther's  discovery  to  the  Elector,  who  at  once 
arrested  him  and  ordered  him  to  make  gold  for  the  royal 
treasury  and  to  teach  him  (Augustus)  the  secret  process  for 
manufacturing  the  tincture.  The  unfortunate  man,  being  in 
prison,  was  unable  to  satisfy  the  greed  of  his  despotic  master 
and  attempted  to  escape,  but  was  caught  in  the  act  and  sent 
to  Leipsic  where  he  was  formally  indicted  and  tried.  The 
court  sentenced  the  alchemist  to  suffer  question  by  torture, 
to  have  the  middle  finger  of  each  hand  cut  off  and  to  be  re- 
turned to  prison  lest  he  should  disclose  his  secret  to  some 
other  crowned  head  or  nobleman.  Augustus,  however,  felt 
sympathy  for  the  young  man  who  had  been  seven  years  in 


his  employ,  and  sent  him  a  letter  beseeching  him  to  reveal 
the  secret  process ;  for  reply  Beuther  wrote  on  the  walls  of 
his  prison  cell:  "Caged  rats  catch  no  mice.'?  When  this  was 
reported  to  the  Prince  he  gave  Beuther  his  liberty,  but  set 
him  at  work  in  the  laboratory  under  a  watchful  guard  ;  seeing 
no  hope  of  pleasing  the  Elector  the  unhappy  alchemist  com- 
mitted suicide  in  his  laboratory  during  the  momentary  ab- 
sence of  the  guard. 

The  \vife  of  Augustus,  Anna  of  Denmark,  affectionately 
called  "Mother  Anna"  by  the  common  people  on  account  of 
her  piety  and  benevolence,  was  also  a  zealous  seeker  after 
the  Philosophers'  stone  and  constructed  on  her  own  estate, 
Annaberg,  two  splendidly  equipped  laboratories  in  which 
great  and  small  furnaces  were  continually  glowing;  one  was 
devoted  to  the  manufacture  of  substances  used  in  medicine 
and  the  other  to  experiments  in  alchemy.  In  the  first  Paul 
Luther,  the  son  of  the  founder  of  Protestantism,  is  said  to 
have  worked,  in  the  latter  labored  David  Beuther  and  Sebald 
Schwertzer,  of  whom  more  will  be  learned  presently. 

From  this  neighboring  state  of  Saxony,  as  well  as  from 
Denmark,  Italy  and  the  Orient  came  frequent  reports  of  suc- 
cessful transmutations  which  became  staple  topics  of  dis- 
cussion at  the  conferences  in  Gold  Alley,  in  the  court  assemblies 
and  in  the  private  apartments  of  the  Emperor.  The  courtier 
Martin  Rutzke,  the  poet  de  Delle,  and  the  physician  von  Hayek 
retailed  to  Rudolph  the  current  gossip  of  the  day,  and  never 
obtained  a  more  interested  auditor  than  when  they  reported 
the  latest  success  in  the  hermetic  art;  thus  the  Emperor  lived 
in  an  alchemical  atmosphere  inhaling  with  every  breath  new 
intoxicants.  He  rewarded  too  his  faithful  gossips  more  gener- 
ously than  that  other  great  patron  of  science  and  art,  Pope 
Leo  X,  of  whom  the  following  anecdote  is  related:  —  Having 
been  presented  by  Aurelius  Augurelli  with  an  epic  poem  in 

65 


three  books  written  in  praise  of  alchemy,  the  Pope  gave  the 
poet  an  empty  purse  with  the  remark  that  he  who  knew  so 
well  how  to  create  gold  would  have  no  difficulty  in  keeping 
it  full. 

The  character  of  the  tidings  communicated  to  Rudolph 
can  be  conveniently  surveyed  by  a  study  of  the  policy  and 
craft  of  contemporaneous  alchemists.  These  wily  pretenders 
to  occult  power  and  knowledge  of  processes  for  creating  at 
will  precious  stones,  universal  panaceas  and  silver  and  gold, 
were  usually  poverty  stricken  wanderers  who  preyed  on  rich 
men  willing  to  listen  to  their  captivating  claims ;  they  were 
certainly  industrious  and  some  had  a  blind  hope  of  eventually 
attaining  the  goal  that  they  believed  others  had  reached,  but 
the  larger  number  were  downright  swindlers  who  resorted  to 
stratagems  to  bolster  up  their  pretensions.  They  generally 
maintained  that  the  small  amount  of  "tincture"  in  their 
possession  had  been  given  them  by  a  mysterious  stranger 
who  appeared  and  disappeared  with  equal  unconcern,  or  had 
been  discovered  in  some  secret  hiding-place,  the  half-ruined 
wall  of  an  abbey  or  the  crypt  of  an  ancient  church,  where  it 
had  been  concealed  for  centuries.  To  give  statements  an  air 
of  mystery,  those  possessing  the  secrets  of  alchemy  were  said 
to  have  derived  their  knowledge  during  sojourn  in  oriental 
countries,  or  through  the  sheer  philanthropy  of  an  Eastern 
sage  encountered  in  travel. 

"A  Turkish  priest  happened  to  enter  a  copper  foundry 
where  great  kettles  were  being  cast ;  in  the  furnace  were  three 
hundred  pounds  of  molten  copper  into  which  he  threw  a  small 
package  containing  a  powder,  and  then  he  immediately  with- 
drew. On  cooling  the  metal  was  found  to  be  prre  gold." 
No  place,  no  date,  no  responsible  names  are  given  by  the 
writer,  and  yet  this  bold  assertion  is  typical  of  the  statements, 
made  in  support  of  the  art  of  Hermes. 

66 


Descriptions  of  the  Philosophers'  stone  are  not  wanting; 
Paracelsus  represented  it  as  a  solid  of  the  color  of  a  dark  ruby, 
transparent  and  flexible,  yet  as  brittle  as  glass;  Berigard 
of  Pisa  attributed  to  it  the  color  of  a  wild  poppy  and  the 
odor  of  melted  salt.  The  power  of  this  protean  object  to 
accomplish  transmutation  was  variously  estimated;  some 
alchemists  boasted  of  a  "magistery"  so  perfect  as  to  trans- 
form one  hundred  times  its  weight  of  mercury  into  gold; 
Roger  Bacon  claimed  for  it  a  multiplying  power  of  one 
hundred  thousand,  Isaac  Hollandus,  one  million,  and  the  arti- 
ficial gold  thus  obtained  was  itself  endowed  with  equal  power. 
The  life-prolonging  properties  claimed  for  the  " Elixir"  were 
confirmed  by  the  occasional  appearance  of  persons  boasting 
extraordinary  age;  the  adept  Trautmansdorf  reached  the  age 
of  one  hundred  and  forty-seven  years,  living  the  life  of  a  hermit 
in  the  wilderness  of  St.  Michael.  Visitors  to  this  secluded 
habitation  were  sometimes  allowed  to  see  and  to  handle  the 
precious  elixir  that  had  prolonged  the  old  man's  vigor,  and 
which  he  treasured  in  a  golden  box ;  it  was  about  as  large 
as  a  bean,  of  a  garnet-red  color  and  much  heavier  than  gold, 
but  its  most  notable  property  was  its  emission  cf  light  in 
the  dark. 

Formulas  for  the  artificial  preparation  of  the  Philosophers' 
stone  abound  in  alchemical  writings  but  without  an  exception 
they  are  clothed  in  such  obscure  language  as  to  be  incom- 
prehensible; a  single  example  will  suffice.  Richard  Carpenter 
of  Worcester  in  1477  wrote  thus :  "Take  the  clear  light  of 
Titan  magnesia,  and  the  bright  red  green  which  is  the  sulphur 
vive,  or  Philosophers'  gold ;  join  them  with  the  water  of  light, 
let  no  va$or  escape  and  keep  the  fire  like  the  sunbeams  in 
summer.  In  three  hours  you  will  see  marvelous  colors,  black, 
white,  red  and  citron;  let  not  your  vessel  be  open  until  you 
have  created  the  blessed  stone." 


67 


Secrecy  "was  an  important  condition  of  success,  secrecy 
as  respects  the  ingredients  and  preparation  of  the  "tincture," 
its  usage  and  the  very  possession  of  it.  Injunctions  to  silence 
often  occur,  none  are  better  expressed  than  the  following: 

"Trust  not  thy  friend  too  much,  wheresoever  thou  goe, 
For  he  that  thow  trustest  best  sometyme  may  be  thy  foe." 

Pater  Sapientiae. 

Augustus,  the  Elector  of  Saxony,  died  in  the  month  of 
February  1586,  leaving  a  fortune  of  seventeen  million  thalers, 
sufficient  evidence  in  RudoTph's  eyes  of  success  in  transmuta- 
tion. In  the  last  years  of  his  reign,  Augustus  had  been  much 
interested  in  the  labors  of  one  of  his  hired  alchemists,  Sebalcl 
Schwertzer  by  name,  who  appeared  at  Dresden  with  a  rare 
manuscript  as  his  certificate  of  learning  and  an  appeal  for  an 
opportunity  of  exhibiting  his  proficiency.  On  the  fifth  of  May, 
1585,  in  presence  of  the  Elector  and  a  select  company  of  his 
friends,  three  marks  of  quicksilver  were  converted  into  gold, 
a  portion  of  which  the  Elector  presented  to  the  Countess 
Hallach.  The  director  of  the  treasury  calculated  that  the 
tincture  had  transmuted  1024  times  its  weight  of  metal. 
Schwertzer,  encouraged  by  this  projection,  proposed  to  manu- 
facture ten  marks  of  gold  daily,  but  the  death  of  Augustus 
interrupted  the  undertaking ;  the  alchemist  removed  to  Prague 
where  he  was  cordially  welcomed  by  Rudolph,  who  appointed 
him  Director  of  the  imperial  mines  at  Joachimsthal  and  raised 
him  to  the  rank  of  noble. 

During  Doctor  Dee's  sojourn  at  the  court  of  Rudolph, 
news  arrived  from  Rome  of  a  wonderful  feat  accomplished  by 
Leonhard  Thurneisser,  son  of  a  Swiss  goldsmith  and  a  dis- 
ciple of  Paracelsus.  This  arrant  knave  began  his  adventurous 
career  in  his  youth  by  selling  to  a  Jew  dealing  in  silver  and 
gold  some  gilded  bars  of  lead,  a  speculation  that  led  to  .the 
flight  of  the  "confidence  man"  from  prosecution  in  the  courts 

68 


LEONHARD  THURNEISSER. 


AKf 
_     THE 

VNWERSITT 

or 


of  justice.  He  then  journeyed  through  England  and  France, 
associating  with  alchemical  charlatans  from  whom  he  learned 
the  tricks  of  the  profession ;  returning  to  Germany  as  a  pro- 
ficient, he  had  the  good  fortune  to  secure  the  confidence  of  the 
Archduke  Ferdinand,  who  generously  defrayed  his  expenses 
of  travel  throughout  the  Orient  in  search  of  the  secrets  of 
Hermes.  Thurneisser  did  not  find  the  great  magistery,  but 
acquired  some  knowledge  of  medicine  which  he  practiced  with 
immense  success ;  he  entered  also  the  service  of  the  Elector 
of  Brandenburg,  becoming  director  of  the  laboratory  founded 
by  the  Elector's  wife.  His  medical  practice  gained  for  him 
great  wealth  which  he  squandered  in  luxurious  living;  he 
became  the  most  popular  physician  in  Berlin,  the  oracle  of 
the  rich  and  the  friend  of  the  poor,  to  the  great  displeasure 
of  the  old  established  practitioners,  who  combined  to  expose 
his  quackery  so  successfully  that  he  left  the  city  in  haste. 
Resuming  a  wandering  life  he  reached  Rome  where  he  was 
invited  to  dine  with  Cardinal  Fernando  di  Medici,  who  after- 
wards became  Archduke  of  Tuscany.  At  the  dinner  table  he 
transmuted  half  an  iron  nail  into  gold,  delighting  and  as- 
tounding the  distinguished  company ;  the  process  was  simple, 
he  warmed  the  nail,  dipped  it  into  an  oily  liquid,  and  on 
withdrawing  it  one  half  was  found  to  be  of  gold.  This  prob- 
ably means  he  was  provided  with  a  nail  made  of  gold 
cemented  to  iron,  from  which  the  solvent  removed  a  black 
varnish  and  disclosed  the  yellow  metal.  This  bi-metallic  nail 
was  long  preserved  in  the  castle  accompanied  by  a  certificate 
signed  by  the  Cardinal,  and  dated  Rome,  November  20th,  1586. 
Thurneisser  afterwards  died  in  poverty  in  a  cloister,  scarcely 
meeting  with  his  deserts. 

The  events  taking  place  in  the  laboratories  of  the  palace, 
the  failures  and  successes  of  the  residents  of  Gold  Alley,  as 
well  as  of  the  journeymen  alchemists  visiting  Prague,  were 

69 


made  known  to  the  Emperor  through  the  Director  of  the 
imperial  laboratories,  Dr.  von  Hayek,  and  by  the  gossiping 
poet  laureate,  Mardocheus  de  Delle.  (The  Italian  favorite, 
who  was  more  successful  as  a  jester  than  as  a  writer  of 
rhymes,  reported  how  Benedict  Topfer,  commonly  known  by 
his  Latinized  name  "Benedictus  Figulus,"  had  made  the  im- 
portant discovery  that  gold  could  be  made  out  of  Jews.  He 
had  found  by  experiment  that  24  Jews  yielded  by  proper 
treatment  one  half  ounce  of  gold,  so  that  by  repeating  the 
process  daily  with  100  Jews,  making  due  allowance  for  holy- 
days,  624  ounces  of  gold  could  be  made  in  twelve  months !. 
Doctor  von  Hayek  gave  his  Majesty  particulars  of  a  crafty 
scheme  played  on  the  residents  of  Gold  Alley  by  an  unknown 
Arabian  who  made  a  brief  sojourn  in  Prague.  He  appeared 
unannounced,  coming  direct  from  the  Orient;  after  establish- 
ing himself  in  grand  style  on  the  Hradschin  and  making  the 
acquaintance  of  the  better  soft  of  hermetic  students,  astrol- 
ogers and  occultists,  the  gorgeously  apparelled  and  polished 
Arabian  invited  four  and  twenty  of  them  to  a  sumptuous 
supper  at  his  residence.  When  the  feast  and  much  wine  had 
been  consumed,  the  foreigner  proposed  making  an  experiment 
of  the  " multiplication"  of  gold  in  the  laboratory  adjoining 
his  apartments ;  this  being  agreed  to,  he  suggested  that  each 
one  present  should  contribute  one  hundred  marks  to  the  enter- 
prise, a  perfectly  safe  proceeding  inasmuch  as  the  process 
would  increase  the  weight  of  metal  ten -fold.  Each  one  present 
eagerly  paid  in  his  quota,  some  sending  home  for  their  purses, 
and  the  richer  ones  loaning  to  the  poorer  the  sums  necessary 
to  equalize  the  shares ;  the  Arabian  received  the  golden  coins, 
added  his  own  contribution,  and  apparently  put  them  into 
a  large  crucible,  together  with  salt,  aqua  fortis,  copperas, 
eggshells,  mcrcur\^,  lead  and  dung.  The  crucible  was  then 
placed  in  a  furnace  already  glowing,  and  the  whole  company 


watched  it  with  intense  excitement  and  high  hopes,  the 
practical  alchemists  pressing  the  Arabian  to  let  them  assist 
in  maintaining  the  fire.  Suddenly  a  frightful  explosion  took 
place  scattering  live  coals  and  filling  the  room  with  vile- 
smelling,  suffocating  gases  that  quickly  drove  most  of  the 
experimenters  out  of  doors.  Great  confusion  ensued,  one  or 
two  men  had  been  burned  by  coals,  more  had  been  nearly 
asphyxiated  by  the  poisonous  fumes,  and  those  who  were  un- 
injured sought  to  relieve  the  sufferings  of  their  friends ;  for  a 
short  time  the  experiment  was  forgotten,  as  well  as  the 
Arabian  who  seemed  to  have  disappeared.  Finally  lights  were 
obtained  and  the  boldest  of  the  company  penetrated  the 
laboratory  still  reeking  with  noisome  vapors,  only  to  dis- 
cover that  the  clever  Arabian  had  indeed  fled,  and  had  taken 
with  him  the  twenty-four  hundred  marks ;  a  broken  crucible 
smothered  in  coals  lay  before  the  half-ruined  furnace,  and  an 
open  window  leading  to  a  side-alley  showed  the  manner  of 
his  departure.  Needless  to  say  this  wearer  of  a  fez  was  never 
again  seen  in  Prague. 

At  the  time  when  Sir  Edward  Kelley  was  in  high  favor 
at  Rudolph's  court,  the  Emperor  summoned  from  Vienna  a 
Greek  alchemist  who  called  himself  "Count"  Marco  Bragadino, 
but  whose  real  name  was  Mamugna.  He  had  made  many 
dupes  in  Italy  by  his  skill  in  transmutation-tricks  and  in 
conjuring  evil  spirits,  as  well  as  in  the  Austrian  capital  where 
he  created  a  great  sensation.  Settling  in  Gold  Alley,  he  never 
went  through  the  streets  without  being  accompanied  by  two 
huge  and  fierce  black  mastiffs,  which  the  common  people  re 
garded  as  his  familiar  spirits.  "His  Excellency  the  Count," 
as  he  liked  to  be  called,  met  with  no  great  success,  however, 
because  he  was  quite  overshadowed  by  Kelley  then  in  the 
zenith  of  his  fame,  and  he  soon  left  Prague  for  Munich  where 
he  swindled  the  Duke  of  Bavaria  out  of  a  large  sum.  Being 

71 


detected,  however,  he  was  arrested  and  condemned  to  death, 
and  his  execution  was  carried  out  in  a  peculiar  way  as  a 
warning  to  all  alchemical  imposters :  the  Count  was  clothed 
in  garments  decorated  with  tinsel  and  hung  on  gallows 
covered  with  shining  brass  by  the  aid  of  a  yellow  rope.  His 
two  ferocious  dogs  were  shot  to  death  at  the  foot  of  the 
gibbet,  and  their  bodies  were  thrown  into  the  same  grave  as 
that  which  formed  the  resting-place  of  Bragadino. 

This  took  place  in  1591,  and  six  years  later  George 
Honauer,  a  3routh  of  twenty-four  3^ears,  who  rejoiced  in  many 
.high  sounding  titles,  was  caught  in  attempting  to  cheat  the 
Duke  of  Wurtemberg,  and  executed  in  a  similar  manner. 

In  midsummer,  1590,  the  citizens  of  Prague  were  startled 
by  the  ostentatious  appearance  of  an  adventurer  known  as 
Alessandro  Scotta;  he  paraded  the  streets  in  a  magnificent 
coach  lined  with  red  velvet,  followed  by  three  carriages  full 
of  retainers  and  servants,  besides  outriders  and  an  armed 
body-guard ;  more  than  forty  richly  caparisoned  horses  were 
required  for  his  suite.  He  rented  a  superbly  furnished  dwelling 
in  Old  Prague,  and  gave  out  that  this  opulence  was  a  small 
matter  to  one  possessing  the  Philosophers'  stone.  Noblemen 
and  courtiers  hastened  to  make  his  acquaintance,  and  he 
soon  got  an  introduction  to  Rudolph  who  gave  him  the  use 
of  a  chemical  workshop.  He  met  with  little  success,  however, 
for  two  years  later  he  was  reduced  to  exhibiting  sleight  of 
hand  and  common  jugglery  to  a  gaping  crowd  in  the  public 
streets  of  the  city.  His  subsequent  career  in  Coburg,  where 
he  duped  the  young  wife  of  the  Duke,  and  in  Italy,  the  land 
of  his  birth,  brought  him  no  credit  and  less  affluence.  Scotta 
seems  to  have  died  a  natural  death,  but  many  of  the  un- 
principled charlatans  paid  a  terrible  price  for  their  treachery ; 
some,  after  suffering  horrible  tortures,  committed  suicide  in 
a  prison  cell;  Sebastian  Siebenfreund,  a  contemporary  of 

72 


Thurneisser,  having  indiscretly  shown  his  skill  in  transmuta- 
tion before  "lewd  fellows  of  the  baser  sort,"  was  murdered 
in  a  shocking  manner  and  robbed  of  his  treasure ;  and  Anna 
Maria  Ziegler,  whose  sex  did  not  save  her,  was  executed  in 
a  horrible  way  by  the  cruel  Duke  Julius  of  B runs  wick- Lune- 
burg,  being  roasted  alive  in  an  iron  arm-chair. 

"Sechs  Stuck  thun  aus  Alchemy  folgen, 

Muh,  Rauch,  Hunger,  Gestanck,  Frost  und  Galgen!" 


73 


CHAPTER  VIII. 
THE  MAN  WITH  A  SILVER  NOSE. 

"Then  he  his  eye  erected 

Into  the  night  so  far, 

And  keen  the  course  inspected 

Of  every  twinkling  star ; 

The  stars  his  fame  transported 

Wide  over  sea  and  land; 

And  Kings  his  friendship  courted. 

And  sought  his  islet's  strand." 

Heiberg. 

[ORTLY  after  sunrise  on  a  brilliantly  clear  day,  a 
distinguished  company  of  philosophers,  noblemen 
and  princes  assembled  upon  the  broad  summit  of 
a  hill  that  formed  the  central  point  of  the  little 
island  of  Huen  off  the  coast  of  Denmark ;  it  was  the  fifth  of 
August,  1576,  just  two  months  before  Rudolph  II.  ascended 
the  throne  of  Germ  any  after  the  death  of  his  father  Maximilian. 
The  immediate  surroundings  of  the  Danish  party  were  most 
picturesque;  the  island,  six  miles  in  circumference,  was  covered 
with  a  bright  green  sward  "as  trim  as  any  garden  lawn," 
on  which  browsed  horses,  cattle  and  sheep;  under  cover  of 
the  woods  sported  deer,  hares,  rabbits  and  partridges  in 
abundance,  and  the  only  other  inhabitants  of  the  sea-girt 
islet  were  the  forty  souls  who  inhabited  a  hamlet  on  the 
water's  edge ;  from  the  top  of  the  hill  which  terminated  in  a 

74, 


plain,  views  were  had  of  the  coast  of  Zealand  six  miles 
away,  and  of  the  broken  mainland  of  Sweden  only  half  that 
distance. 

The  company  had  not  been  drawn  to  this  beautiful  spot 
for  the  purpose  of  hunting,  nor  for  the  enjoyment  of  the 
beauties  of  nature,  but  solely  in  the  interests  of  science ;  they 
stood  near  the  foundations  of  a  great  building,  only  the 
ground  plan  of  which  was  visible,  while  nearby  lackeys  in 
rich  liveries  arranged  a  substantial  breakfast  of  which  foreign 
wines  formed  an  agreeable  part. 

The  principal  personages  in  this  group  were  Frederick  II. 
King  of  Denmark  and  Norwa}-,  then  in  the  prime  of  life,  and 
the  celebrated  astronomer  T3'cho  Brahe,  together  with  Charles 
Danze,  the  French  Ambassador,  and  members  of  the  Danish 
court  interested  in  the  advancement  of  science.  The  occasion 
was  the  laying  of  the  corner-stone  of  the  magnificent  structure 
known  as  Uraniborg,  or  "City  of  the  Heavens,"  destined  to 
become  under  Tycho  Brahe  the  centre  of  astronomical  learning. 
Brahe  was  then  just  thirty  years  of  age  and  had  already 
gained  an  enviable  position  in  the  scientific  world;  a  native 
of  Knudsdorp,  near  Helsingborg,  he  was  sent  by  his  uncle 
and  guardian  to  study  philosophy  and  rhetoric  at  the  Uni- 
versity of  Copenhagen  with  a  view  to  entering  the  profession 
of  law,  but  an  event  occurred  on  the  21st  of  August,  1560, 
after  the  young  student  had  been  sixteen  months  at  College, 
which  aroused  in  him  an  interest  in  astronomy  that  changed 
his  whole  career.  This  was  the  long  predicted  eclipse  of  the 
sun,  a  phenomenon  believed  at  that  time  to  exert  direct 
influence  on  the  destiny  of  nations  and  the  fortunes  of  indi- 
viduals, and  it  is  thought  that  Brahe  was  attracted  to  the 
study  of  celestial  bodies  by  the  claims  of  astrology  quite  as 
much  as  by  the  scientific  aspects  of  astronomy.  While  duti- 
fully reading  law  all  day  with  a  preceptor,  at  night  he  secretly 

75 


observed  the  movements  of  the  planets  and  stars,  and  studied 
mathematics  with  intense  ardor. 

On  the  death  of  his  uncle,  Brahe  inherited  a  fortune  and 
found  himself  free  to  follow  his  cherished  plans.  While 
travelling  in  Germany  an  unhappy  incident  nearly  cost  him 
his  life ;  a  quarrel  with  one  of  his  own  countrymen  at  Rostock 
led  to  an  appeal  to  the  sword ;  they  fought  the  duel  in  total 
darkness,  and  Brahe's  antagonist  cut  off  the  whole  front  of  his 
nose  producing  a  horrid  disfigurement  which  was  only  partly 
remedied  by  cementing  to  his  face  an  imitation  nose  cleverly 
constructed  of  gold  and  silver;  youthful  folly  thus  earned 
for  him  the  soubriquet  of  "The  Man  with  the  Silver  Nose." 

Two  years  later  Tycho  Brahe  settled  temporarily  in  Augs- 
burg where  he  secured  the  friendship  and  financial  assistance 
of  Paul  Hainzel,  burgomaster  of  the  city  and  a  devotee  of 
astronomy ;  they  constructed  a  huge  quadrant  for  the  purpose 
of  determining  the  altitude  of  celestial  orbs,  a  sextant  for 
measuring  their  distances,  and  other  instruments  superior  to 
any  then  extant,  with  which  many  excellent  observations 
were  made. 

Returning  to  Denmark,  Brahe  established  a  new  observa- 
tory at  his  uncle's  castle  and  advanced  greatly  the  knowledge 
of  astronomers ;  his  reputation  secured  for  him  an  invitation 
from  the  King  to  give  a  course  of  lectures  on  astronomy, 
which  he  accepted  and  he  greatly  interested  his  auditors  by 
defending  the  superstitions  of  astrology.  He  then  visited 
southern  Germany,  Switzerland  and  Venice  intending  to  select 
a  permanent  residence;  on  his  way  northward  he  passed 
through  Ratisbon  just  in  time  to  witness  the  brilliant  cere- 
monies at  the  coronation  of  the  Emperor  Rudolph  II,  on 
November  first,  1575.  He  made  the  acquaintance  of  the 
monarch,  was  invited  to  dine  with  him,  and  on  that  occasion 
cast  his  horoscope,  from  a  study  of  which  he  advised  the 

76 


or  THE 
UNIVERSITY 

»£IUFORH\£- 


Emperor  not  to  marry  as  his  sons  would  bring  him  only  mis- 
fortune, a  prophecy  that  was  destined  to  be  fulfilled.  Had 
the  astrologer  been  truly  able  to  foresee  his  own  destiny  by 
observation  of  the  stars,  he  would  have  known  that  his  at- 
tendance at  these  festivities  in  honor  of  Rudolph  formed  the 
first  link  in  a  chain  of  events  which  was  to  terminate  with 
his  death  at  his  Majesty's  court. 

Soon  after  his  return  to  Denmark,  Frederick  II,  appreci- 
ating the  claims  of  science,  summoned  Brahe  to  Copenhagen 
and  offered  to  give  him  a  grant  for  life  of  the  Island  of  Huen, 
and  to  construct  and  supply  with  astronomical  instruments 
an  observatory  on  a  scale  of  liberality  previously  unknown, 
also  to  furnish  a  residence  for  his  family  and  his  assistants. 
The  next  twenty-one  years  of  Brahe's  life  were  passed  in  the 
study  of  the  heavenly  bodies  at  the  superbly  equipped  and 
»  palatial  Uraniborg;  his  patron,  King  Frederick,  gave  him  a 
pension  and  productive  property,  which  he  did  not  use  selfish- 
ly, for  he  entertained  with  great  hospitality  the  visitors  who 
sought  to  greet  the  first  astronomer  of  the  age,  and  he  edu- 
cated and  supported  numbers  of  young  men  under  his  own 
roof,  training  them  to  observe,  to  think  and  to  reason.  At 
Uraniborg  his  skill  and  assiduity  as  an  observer,  his  vast 
collection  of  notes  on  the  planets  and  his  improvements  oi  the 
lunar  theory,  won  for  him  a  position  unsurpassed  by  any 
astronomer  of  ancient  or  of  modern  times. 

The  Danish  poet  Peter  Andreas  Heiberg  has  pictured  in 
verse  the  Uraniborg  observatory:  — 

"A  gate  in  the  wall  eastward 
Showed  like  a  mighty  mouth; 
There  was  another  westward, 
And  spires  stood  north  and  south. 
The  castle  dome,  high  rearing 
Itself,  a  spirelet  bore, 
Where  stood,  'for  the  wind  veering, 
A  Pegasus,  gilt  o'er." 


"Towers  which  the  sight  astounded 

In  north  and  south  were  placed, 

Upon  strong  pillars  founded,  • 

And  both  with  galleries  graced. 

And  there  they  caught  attention 

Of  all  who  thither  strolled. 

Quadrants  of  large  dimensions 

And  spheres  in  flameg  that  rolled." 

Unhappily  Brahe's  generous  patron,  King  Frederick,  died 
in  1588  and  was  succeeded  by  his  son  Christian  IV,  a  boy 
of  eleven  years  of  age;  the  Danish  courtiers,  jealous  of  Brahe's 
pension  and  privileges,  gradually  undermined  his  position  in 
the  kingdom,  poisoning  the  mind  of  the  youthful  sovereign 
against  the  scientific  establishment  at  Huen  and  its  Director. 
Brahe  was  deprived  of  his  pension  and  his  estate;  and  after 
suffering  many  indignities  at  the  hands  of  the  influential 
noblemen  surrounding  the  infant  King,  he  resolved  to  forsake 
his  ungrateful  native  land.  Accordingly  in  1597  he  removed 
his  instruments,  library  and  chemical  apparatus  from  Huen 
and  put  them  on  board  a  ship  hired  for  the  purpose;  then, 
with  his  wife,  five  children,  servants,  several  assistants  and 
pupils,  including  his  future  son-in-law  Tengnagel  and  the 
mathematician  Longomontanus,  he  set  sail  from  Copenhagen 
and  landed  at  Rostock,  the  scene  of  his  early  folly  that  had 
resulted  in  a  silver  nose. 

Being  thus  cast  adrift  with  limited  resources  and  expensive 
responsibilities,  he  found  need  of  a  wealthy  patron  and  sought 
the  favor  of  the  Emperor  Rudolph  whose  scientific  court  was 
the  admiration  of  all  Europe.  Knowing  of  Rudolph's  fondness 
for  machines  and  for  chemical  experiments,  Brahe  dedicated 
to  him  his  newly  completed  work  on  the  mechanics  of  as- 
tronomy, and  added  to  it  an  account  of  his  labors  in  chem- 
istry ;  the  date  of  the  dedication  is  January  1598,  but  the  book 
was  first  published  four  years  later.*  Accompanying  this 

*  Astronomic  instauratae  mechanics.    Norimbergse,  16O2. 

78 


manuscript  was  a  copy  of  his  catalogue  of  1000  stars.  These 
proofs  of  his  attainments  in  science  were  hardly  necessary, 
however,  to  secure  the  goodwill  of  the  German  monarch  who 
had  long  watched  the  career  of  the  Danish  astronomer. 
Coroducius  and  Dr.  von  Hayek  had  corresponded  with  Tycho 
Brahe,  and  the  latter  influenced  the  Vice-Chancellor  Curtius 
in  his  favor ;  an  invitation  to  the  Hradschin  was  extended  to 
Brahe  by  the  Emperor,  through  his  private  secretary  Barvi- 
tius,  promising  the  Dane  every  facility  for  prosecuting  his 
astronomical  studies,  as  well  as  a  stipend  and  a  residence  for 
his  family. 

Rudolph's  invitation  was  the  more  cordial  on  account 
of  Brahe's  reputation  as  an  astrologer  and  of  his  predilection 
for  alchemical  pursuits,  which  beliefs  and  practices  were  not 
inconsistent  at  that  period  with  learning.  The  astrological 
studies  of  the  illustrious  Dane  led  him  to  attribute  the  great 
plague  that  devastated  Europe  in  1566  to  the  conjunction 
of  Jupiter  and  Saturn  in  August  three  years  before ;  he  pro- 
phesied that  a  lady  of  high  rank  would  be  killed  by  a  horned 
beast,  and  one  year  later  a  Countess  was  murdered  by  her 
jealous  husband;  and  when  he  calculated  that  Frederick  II 
of  Denmark  would  die  in  the  year  1593,  and  his  Majesty 
actually  passed  away  in  1588,  Brahe  said  that  the  demise 
occurred  simply  because  "death  was  too  previous."  This 
astrological  gammon  did  not  prevent  Brahe  from  holding  a 
pious  belief  in  an  over-ruling  Divine  Providence. 

Tycho  Brahe  was  also  a  practical  alchemist  working  with 
crucibles,  athanors  and  alembics  at  what  he  called  " terrestrial 
astronomy,"  the  planets  and  the  metals  being  closely  allied, 
as  indeed  their  present  names  show.  During  his  brief  residence 
at  his  uncle's  castle  of  Herritzvold  he  fitted  up  a  laboratory 
and  conducted  experiments  on  gold  and  silver,  satellites  of 
the  earth  that  promised  pecuniary  rewards.  And  afterwards 

79 


at  Uraniborg  a  laboratory  was  constructed  in  the  crypt 
beneath  the  building,  in  which  no  less  than  sixteen  furnaces 
were  disposed  for  every  degree  of  heat  desired.  He  never 
published  the  results  of  his  researches  in  alchemy,  giving  as 
a  reason  one  frequently  alleged  by  others ;  "on  consideration," 
he  wrote,  "and  by  the  advice  of  most  learned  men  I  thought 
it  improper  to  unfold  the  secrets  of  the  art  to  the  vulgar, 
since  few  persons  are  capable  of  using  its  mysteries  to  ad- 
vantage." 

As  most  physicians  were  astrologers,  astronomers  also 
practiced  medicine;  Copernicus  had  done  so,  and  it  is  not 
strange  to  find  that  Brahe  had  invented  an  Elixir  which  was 
widely  sold  as  a  remedy  against  the  epidemics  then  ravaging 
Germany.  The  Emperor  Rudolph  having  heard  of  this  precious 
panacea  sought  of  Brahe  the  secret  of  its  preparation,  where- 
upon the  latter  addressed  a  long  letter  to  his  Majesty  com- 
municating the  formula,  and  begging  him  to  keep  the  secret 
and  to  reserve  to  himself  the  curative  power.  The  prescrip- 
tion called  for  Venetian  treacle,  which  was  subjected  to  several 
chemical  operations,  and  to  which  was  added  either  tincture 
of  corals,  or  of  sapphires,  or  of  hyacinths,  or  a  solution  of 
pearls,  or  best  of  all  a  solution  of  potable  gold ;  but  to  make 
the  nostrum  of  universal  application  for  all  diseases  that 
could  be  cured  by  perspiration,  it  was  necessary  to  combine 
it  with  a  preparation  of  antimony. 

In  1599  soldiers  and  refugees  from  the  seat  of  the  Turkish 
war  on  the  borders  of  Hungary,  brought  back  to  Bohemia 
the  seeds  of  the  dreaded  plague,  and  soon  the  city  on  the 
Moldau  was  a  victim  of  this  frightful  epidemic ;  Rudolph,  who 
always  had  a  superstitious  fear  of  death,  fled  with  a  small 
part  of  his  court  to  Pilsen  where  he  remained  more  than 
nine  months.  Tycho  Brahe,  on  his  way  to  Prague,  received 
alarming  reports  of  the  mortality  in  Bohemia  and  lingered  in 

80 


Germany  until  the  pestilence  ceased ;  he  had  left  his  wife  and 
daughters  with  his  hospitable  friend  Count  Henry  Rantzau, 
at  the  Castle  of  Wandesberg  near  Hamburg,  and  he  had  with 
him  his  sons,  his  pupils,  together  with  a  selection  of  the 
more  portable  astronomical  instruments.  On  arriving  at 
Prague  he  was  kindly  received  by  the  Emperor  who  placed 
a  handsome  residence  at  his  disposal,  granted  him  a  yearly 
stipend  of  three  thousand  crowns,  promised  him  an  estate, 
and  gave  him  the  use  of  the  picturesquely  situated  Belvedere, 
the  "Lustschloss"  of  Ferdinand,  for  an  observatory.  It  was 
in  the  spacious  halls  of  this  beautiful  building  that  the  cabinet 
of  curiosities  was  placed,  and  Svatek  says  the  ever  increasing 
collections  crowded  Brahe  out  of  the  palace;  at  all  events 
the  place  was  found  unsuitable  for  an  observatory  and  the 
Emperor  granted  the  astronomer  the  choice  of  several  castles, 
and  he  selected  Benatek,  situated  about  seven  leagues  from 
Prague,  built  on  a  hill  and  commanding  an  unobstructed 
view  of  the  heavens. 

Before  settling  in  his  new  surroundings,  Brahe  sent  Teng- 
nagel  to  fetch  his  wife  and  family  from  Hamburg,  ordered 
the  rest  of  his  instruments,  and  wrote  to  David  Fabricius, 
Longomontanus,  John  Kepler,  and  some  students  known  to 
be  good  computers,  inviting  them  to  assist  him  in  founding 
a  school  of  astronomy  and  of  chemistry. 

The  Castle  of  Benatek  was  soon  bustling  with  a  number 
of  people  from  afar;  Tycho  Brahe's  large  family,  a  retinue 
of  servants,  pupils,  assistant  observers,  old  friends  of  the 
astronomer  eager  to  share  in  his  renewed  good  fortune,  as 
well  as  Professors  from  Universities  desirous  of  making  the 
acquaintance  of  the  first  astronomer  of  Europe;  all  these 
guests  sat  at  the  table  with  the  hospitable  master,  enjoying  the 
bountiful  supply  of  good  things  to  eat  and  fine  wines  to  drink. 

Work    was    planned    for  each  one;    the  youthful  George 

81 


Brahe,  an  earnest  student  of  chemistry,  was  to  supervise  the 
construction  of  a  laboratory;  Longomontanus  was  to  observe 
the  moon  and  its  phases ;  Kepler  to  study  Mars ;  while  Teng- 
nagel,  the  fiance  of  Elisabeth  Brahe,  naturally  busied  himself 
(as  von  Hasner  wittily  remarks)  with  an  earthly  Venus. 
Unfortunately  Brahe  was  of  a  sanguine  temperament,  quite 
obstinate,  and  inclined  to  be  irritable;  moreover  he  was  in 
his  fifty-fourth  year,  whereas  Kepler,  his  brilliant  assistant, 
was  but  twenty -nine,  and  the  peace  of  this  complex  house- 
hold was  broken  up  by  a  quarrel  which  led  to  a  withdrawal 
of  the  younger  from  the  establishment,  as  it  proved,  however, 
only  temporarily.  Another  serious  blow  to  the  plans  at 
Benatek  fell  when  the  Emperor  commanded  the  illustrious 
Dane  to  remove  to  Prague  and  to  reside  nearer  his  imperial 
person,  for  consultation  on  astrological  matters  as  well  as 
to  obtain  greater  insight  into  astronomical  labors.  After  the 
removal  of  the  instruments  to  the  royal  gardens  on  the 
Hradschin,  and  of  his  household  to  the  dwelling  of  his  friend 
Curtius,  recently  deceased,  Brahe  resumed  his  observations, 
but  notwithstanding  the  liberality  of  the  Emperor  and  the 
kindness  of  his  friends,  he  felt  that  he  was  a  stranger  in  a 
foreign  land ;  ignorant  of  the  language  of  the  people,  experi- 
encing many  inconveniences  and  some  disappointments,  his 
disturbed  mind  enfeebled  his  body  and  he  fell  a  victim  to  dis- 
ease which  terminated  fatally  on  the  twenty-fourth  of  October 
1601.  By  order  of  the  Emperor  the  body  of  the  illustrious 
astronomer  was  buried  with  great  pomp  in  the  principal 
church  (Teynkirche)  of  Prague,  where  a  full  length  brass  is 
still  to  be  seen. 

The  great  collection  of  books  and  instruments  left  b3r 
Brahe  was  bought  of  his  heirs  for  twenty  thousand  thalers, 
of  which  only  four  thousand  were  paid  down,  and  twelve 
years  later  twenty-three  hundred  more  were  paid  to  the  now 

82 


MONUMENT  TO  TYCHO  BRAHE. 


impoverished  family,  who  left  Bohemia  under  very  different 
circumstances  from  those  attending  their  entrance.  At  the 
capture  of  Prague  by  the  Elector  Palatine,  eighteen  years 
after  the  death  of  Tycho  Brahe,  the  astronomical  apparatus 
was  in  part  destroyed  and  in  part  carried  off  or  devoted  to 

other  uses. 

,o 

Among  the  relics  of  Brahe  long  treasured  with  utmost 
care  was  one  of  his  silver  noses ;  one  of  them,  I  say,  because 
an  accident  obliged  him  to  provide  several  for  emergencies. 
Waking  one  morning  from  a  sound  sleep  he  found  to  his  con- 
sternation that  his  only  silver  nose,  which  he  had  laid  on  a 
table  at  his  bedside,  has  been  broken  to  pieces  by  one  of  his 
pet  dogs  whose  unconscious  play  caused  his  master  much 
annoyance.  After  this  catastrophe  he  had  a  little  provision 
of  noses  manufactured,  fourteen  in  number,  which  he  used 
interchangeably  as  one  does  a  handkerchief.  A  Bohemian 
historian  relates,  more  in  jest  than  in  earnest  perhaps,  how 
Brahe  bequeathed  one  of  his  silver  noses  to  his  Majesty 
Christian  IV,  King  of  Denmark,  who  gave  it  to  his  favorite 
Christine  Munk,  from  whom  after  many  wanderings  it  passed 
into  the  possession  of  Voltaire,  who  took  it  to  Potsdam  for 
the  pleasure  of  Frederick  the  Great ;  but  after  Voltaire's  death 
it  was  secured  for  the  museum  of  art  at  Vienna,  where  it  was 
treasured  with  great  care,  even  as  Galileo's  finger  was  pre- 
served in  alcohol  at  Florence. 


83 


CHAPTER  IX. 

ASTRONOMICAL    WISDOM    AND    ASTROLOGICAL 

FOLLY. 

"Into  death's  hidden  hour  ye  mortals  are  prying, 
Searching  what  is  the  way  ye  shall  come  to  your  end. 
To  interpret  the  teaching  of  planets  ye' re  trying, 
Which  star  is  man's  enemy,  which  is  his  friend." 


N  THE  same  year  in  which  Rudolph  ascended  the 
throne  of  Germany,  a  poor  little  five-year  old  boy 
living  with  his  grandparents  in  Wurtemberg,  was 
attacked  with  small-pox;  his  father  was  with  the 
army  in  the  Netherlands,  his  mother  had  followed  her  hus- 
band into  the  field,  and  the  boy  was  nursed  through  the 
horrid  disease  to  convalescence  by  his  grandparents.  After 
recovering  his  strength  a  year  later,  John  was  sent  to  school, 
but  the  poverty  of  his  father,  who  had  returned  from  the 
war,  obliged  him  to  leave  the  school  in  two  years  time  in 
order  to  do  the  work  of  a  servant  at  home.  While  so  engaged 
he  prepared  himself  for  the  University  and  in  spite  of  a  frail 
body,  weakened  by  serious  illnesses,  and  notwithstanding 
pinching  poverty  and  family  dissensions,  John  Kepler  com- 
pleted his  studies  at  Tubingen.  At  the  University  he  dis- 
tinguished himself  by  an  essay  in  favor  of  the  Copernican 
system,  which  led  to  an  invitation  to  take  the  chair  of  astrono- 

84 


my  at  Gratz,  and  although  he  had  no  strong  predilection  for 
this  science  he  applied  himself  industriously  to  its  study,  and 
his  genius  was  soon  manifested  by  brilliant  discoveries  and 
ingenious  speculations.  Galileo  and  Tycho  Brahe  both  praised 
his  "Cosmographical  Dissertations"  published  in  1596. 

In  the  following  year  he  married  Barbara  Miiller,  who 
was  a  widow  for  the  second  time  at  the  age  of  twenty -three, 
and  to  whom  he  had  been  attached  for  five  years,  but  whose 
parents  had  opposed  her  marriage.  She  brought  him  less 
dowry  than  he  had  expected  and  his  salary  at  Gratz  was 
very  small;  moreover  disputes  with  bis  wife's  relations,  and 
attacks  made  by  the  Catholics  on  Protestants,  to  which  party 
Kepler  avowed  adherence,  made  his  position  untenable  and 
he  withdrew  into  Hungary.  A  year  later  Kepler  returned  to 
his  professorship,  but  he  failed  to  secure  the  peace  he  loved, 
and  anxious  to  consult  the  eminent  astronomer  at  the  court 
of  Rudolph  II.,  he  accepted  the  invitation  to  Benatek,  where 
we  first  encountered  him.  During  his  visit  to  Brahe  arrange- 
ments to  secure  him  a  salaried  position  at  the  court  failed, 
but  when  he  returned  in  1601  the  Emperor  appointed  him 
imperial  mathematician  and  assistant  in  the  observatory. 

Brahe  and  Kepler  then  undertook  to  compute  a  new  set 
of  astronomical  tables  to  be  called  the  "Rudolphine  Tables" 
in  honor  of  their  liberal  patron;  after  the  death  of  Brahe, 
Kepler  succeeded  him  as  chief  mathematician  and  was  pro- 
mised a  good  salary,  but  the  depleted  imperial  treasury  pre- 
vented prompt  payments ;  during  the  nine  years  that  Kepler 
remained  at  the  court  he  struggled  with  the  miseries  of 
poverty,  and  finally  after  passing  through  a  severe  illness, 
losing  his  favorite  son  by  small-pox  and  his  wife  by  typhus 
fever,  his  cup  of  sorrow  overflowed.  The  death  of  Rudolph 
in  1612  did  not  sever  Kepler's  connection  with  the  court,  for 
Matthias,  who  succeeded  his  brother,  reappointed  him  imperial 

85 


mathematician,  allowing  him  at  the  same  time  to  accept  the 
professorship  of  mathematics  at  Linz. 

Perhaps  the  greatest  service  rendered  to  science  by  the 
Emperor  Rudolph  was  bringing  about  the  association  of  the 
two  astronomers  Tycho  Brahe  and  John  Kepler;  they  were 
unlike  in  disposition  and  mental  gifts,  yet  their  cooperation 
proved  most  fruitful.  Brahe  had  clung  to  the  Ptolemaic 
astronomy  that  made  the  earth  the  centre  of  the  celestial 
universe,  but  Kepler  early  accepted  the  theory  of  Copernicus 
that  placed  the  sun  in  the  centre;  Brahe  had  gathered  an 
immense  number  of  careful,  systematic  observations  with  a 
view  to  overthrowing  the  Copemican  system,  and  Kepler 
used  these  very  facts  to  establish  it. 

While  in  the  service  of  Rudolph,  Kepler  wrote  some  of  his 
most  valuable  works;  in  the  treatise  on  "Optrics  and  Di- 
optrics" (1604)  he  explained  the  physics  of  the  eye  and  the 
action  of  lenses;  in  his  "New  Astronomy"  (1609)  he  deter- 
mined the  elliptical  orbit  of  the  planets,  since  called  Kepler's 
First  Law;  in  the  same  year  he  announced  his  discovery  of 
the  rate  at  which  the  planets  move  (Kepler's  Second  Law); 
but  the  third  law,  on  the  relation  between  the  distances  of 
the  planets  from  the  sun  and  their  periods  of  revolution  about 
it,  was  not  promulgated  until  1618,  after  the  death  of 
Rudolph.  These  three  laws  have  remained  unchallenged  as 
absolute  scientific  truths  and  form  the  foundation  of  the 
modern  system  of  astronomy.  The  telescope,  in  the  hands 
of  Galileo  was  marking  a  new  era  in  astronomy,  and  Kepler 
greatly  improved  it  by  inserting  two  convex  lenses  which 
yielded  a  much  larger  field  of  view.  The  Rudolphine  Tables 
were  not  published  until  1628,  at  the  expense  of  Ferdinand, 
who  succeeded  Matthias  after  his  brief  reign  of  seven  years. 

Pecuniary  embarrassments  obliged  Kepler  to  cast  nativi- 
ties for  his  friends,  but  his  heart  was  never  in  the  business 

86 


of  fortune-telling;  when  not  fearful  of  giving  offense  he  declined 
to  encourage  this  delusion.  In  his  "Principles  of  Astrology" 
(1602),  he  railed  against  the  vanity  and  worthlessness  of 
astrology  as  ordinarily  practiced  and  he  denied  the  influence 
of  the  stars  and  planets  over  nations  and  individuals.  The 
appearance  of  a  brilliant  comet  in  1607  (since  known  as 
Halley's  comet)  greatly  alarmed  the  citizens  of  Prague  and 
threw  the  credulous  court  of  Rudolph  into  consternation ;  the 
Emperor  sent  for  his  astronomer,  and  from  the  balcony  of  the 
Belvedere  they  studied  the  celestial  wonder  with  the  aid  of  a 
powerful  telescope,  while  the  man  of  science  and  faith  com- 
municated to  the  man  of  superstitious  fears  his  own  belief 
based  on  mathematical  knowledge.  He  ventured  to  say  to 
his  Majesty  that  the  comet  was  not  called  into  existence  for 
the  weal  or  the  woe  of  the  German  Emperor,  and  he  re- 
minded him  that  the  same  comet  had  been  seen  in  the  year 
44  B.  C.,  on  the  occasion  of  the  funeral  procession  of  Julius 
Caesar,  had  appeared  at  regular  intervals  of  75  years  since 
without  witnessing  the  burial  of  a  new  Caesar,  and  it  would 
again  appear  in  1680.  In  passing  through  its  path  of  many 
millions  of  miles  on  strictly  mathematical  lines  it  did  so  un- 
concerned about  the  fate  of  any  individual  on  the  insignificant 
earth,  or  of  the  human  race,  and  Kepler  urged  Rudolph  to 
lay  aside  senseless  fears.  "Each  of  the  myriad  stars,"  he  added, 
"is  a  shining  witness  of  the  incontestible  truth  that  every 
thing  in  nature  is  in  motion,  progress  is  life,  rest  is  death." 
Kepler  regarded  as  absurd  the  sentiments  soon  to  be  expressed 
in  vivid  language  by  the  "divine  William": 

"Meteors  fright  the  fixed  stars  of  heaven ; 
The  pale-fac'd  moon  looks  bloody  on  the  earth, 
And  lean  look'd  prophets  whisper  fearful  change: 
These  signs  fore-run  the  death  or  fall  of  kings." 

Although  Kepler  rejected  the  crude  views  of  his  contempo- 
raries, he  admitted  his  belief  in  a  modified  form  of  astrology ; 

87 


he  conceived  that  certain  harmonious  configurations  of  suit- 
able planets  have  the  power  of  exciting  the  minds  of  men  to 
certain  general  actions  or  impulses,  so  that  the  only  effect 
of  these  configurations  is  to  operate  along  with  the  vital  soul 
in  producing  results  which  would  not  otherwise  have  taken 
place.  Kepler  regarded  his  own  zeal  for  study  as  a  result  of 
his  birth  under  a  triple  configuration  (Brewster).  Though 
holding  these  notions  he  felt  obliged  to  apologize  in  his  writ- 
ings for  the  drawing  of  horoscopes,  saying:  —  "Ye  overwise 
philosophers,  ye  censure  this  daughter  of  astronomy  beyond 
her  deserts ;  know  ye  that  she  must  support  her  mother  by 
her  charms.  The  scanty  reward  of  an  astronomer  would  not 
provide  him  with  bread,  if  men  did  not  entertain  hopes  of 
reading  the  future  in  the  heavens."  To  support  his  growing 
family  he  published  what  he  called  "a  vile  prophesying  alma- 
nac, which  is  scarcely  more  respectable  than  beggary,"  and 
when  he  sent  a  copy  of  his  Ephemerides  to  Professor  Gerlach 
he  wrote  they  were  nothing  but  worthless  conjectures. 

"Thou  damned  mock- art,  and  thou  brainsick  tale 

Of  old  astrologie."  .  .  . 

"Some  doting  gossip  'mongst  the  Chaldee  wives 

Did  to  the  credulous  world  thce  first  derive ; 

And  superstition  nurs'd  thee  ever  since, 

And  publish' t  in  profounder  arts  pretence; 

That  now  who  paires  his  nails,  or  libs  his  swine, 

But  he  must  first  take  counsell  of  the  signe." 

Hall,  Virgidemarium. 

Although  gifted  with  extraordinary  ability  in  mathemati- 
cal deductions,  Kepler  indulged  in  singular  vagaries  as  to  the 
tides;  in  his  "System  of  Harmonics"  (1619)  he  claims  that 
the  earth  is  an  enormous  living  animal,  and  that  the  tides 
are  waves  produced  by  the  animal  spouting  out  water  through 
its  gills;  and  the  effects  of  the  sun  and  moon  on  the  tides 
result  from  the  alternate  sleep  and  waking  of  the  terrene 
monster.  This  bizzare  conception  was  allied  to  the  philosophy 

88 


of  the  macrocosm  and  the  microcosm,  found  among  the  Greeks 
as  early  as  the  fourth  century  and  current  in  Rudolph's  reign. 
It  taught  that  the  physical  universe,  or  macrocosm,  is  an 
organized  being  endowed  with  a  soul  and  analogous  to  man 
the  microcosm,  and  that  an  intimate  correlation  exists  be- 
tween them,  the  former  controlling  the  destiny  of  the  latter 
and  the  latter  having  power  over  the  fundamental  laws  of  the 
former.  This  view  of  man  as  the  physical  and  spiritual  epi- 
tome of  the  universe  was  well  set  forth  in  the  "Epistle  of  Isis 
to  her  son  Horus,"  a  writing  on  the  "sacred  art"  of  obscure 
origin:  —  "Hermes  calls  man  the  microcosm  because  the  man 
or  the  small  world  contains  all  that  which  is  included  in  the 
macrocosm  or  great  world;  thus  the  macrocosm  has  small 
and  large  animals  both  terrestrial  and  aquatic,  man  on  the 
other  hand  has  fleas  and  lice,  these  are  the  terrestrial  animals, 
also  intestinal  worms  which  are  the  aquatical  animals.  The 
macrocosm  has  rivers,  springs  and  seas ;  man  has  internal 
organs,  intestines,  veins  and  channels.  The  macrocosm  has 
aerial  animals  ;  man  has  gnats  and  other  winged  insects.  The 
macrocosm  has  volatile  spirits  such  as  winds,  thunders  and 
lightnings;  man  has  internal  gases  and  pordas  of  diseases. 
The  macrocosm  has  two  luminaries,  the  sun  and  moon ;  man 
has  also  two  luminaries,  the  right  eye  representing  the  sun, 
and  the  left  eye  the  moon.  The  macrocosm  has  mountains 
and  hills,  man  has  a  head  and  ears.  The  macrocosm  has 
twelve  signs  of  the  zodiac,  man  has  them  also  from  the  lobe 
of  tke  ear  to  the  feet  which  are  called  the  fishes." 

These  singular  and  meaningless  analogies  were  accepted 
by  all  learned  men  in  the  sixteenth  century;  Paracelsus 
founded  on  them  a  special  science,  which  he  called  Astronomia, 
teaching  that  man  is  a  microcosm  in  comparison  with  the 
earth  and  a  macrocosm  as  compared  with  an  atom  of  matter. 
The  noted  English  physician  Robert  Fludd,  "who  was  not 

89 


wholly  a  quack,"  wrote  at  length  on  the  macrocosm  and 
microcosm,  and  it  entered  into  the  philosophies  of  the  mystics 
Jacob  Boehme  and  Emmanuel  Swedenborg. 

Allusion  is  made  in  the  last  paragraph  of  the  quotation 
from  the  "Epistle  of  Isis"  to  the  twelve  signs  of  the  zodiac 
and  their  supposed  influence  on  the  anatomy  of  man ;  this 
too  is  a  very  ancient  feature  of  astrology  and  played  an  im- 
portant role  in  the  practice  of  Rudolph's  fortune-tellers.  Its 
foundations  were  laid  by  Chaldean  astronomers,  Hebrew 
sages  and  Greek  philosophers ;  Christian  mystics  adopted  it 
and  mediaeval  astrologers  magnified  it  so  that  it  became  a 
persistent  popular  superstition.  The  first  step  in  the  evolution 
of  this  conception  was  taken  more  than  four  thousand  years 
ago,  when  the  star-gazers  of  Babylon  observed  the  circular 
zone  through  which  the  sun  appears  to  pass  in  the  course 
of  a  year,  and  divided  it  into  twelve  constellations,  creating 
what  is  known  as  the  zodiac.  To  these  twelve  divisions 
symbols  were  given  some  of  which  are  said  to  be  Babylonian 
ideographs  of  the  months.  The  astronomers  of  Egypt  adopted 
this  system  and  their  lively  imaginations  peopled  the  constel- 
lations with  genii;  thus  arose  a  symbolism  in  which  each 
group  of  stars  is  likened  to  a  given  animal  or  human  char- 
acter. The  twelve  constellations  and  their  anatomical  associ- 
ations are  quaintly  set  forth  in  the  following  lines: 

The  Head  and  Face  the  Princely  Ram  doth  rule, 

The  Neck  and  Throat  falls  to  the  sullen  Bull 

The  lovely  Twins  guide  Shoulder,  Arm  and  Head, 

The  slow  pac'd  Crab  doth  Breast  and  Spleen  command. 

The  Lion  bold  governs  the  Heart  of  Man. 

The  modest  Maid  doth  on  the  Bowels  scan. 

The  Reins  and  Loins  are  in  the  Ballancc  try'd. 

The  Scorpion  the  Secret  Parts  doth  guide. 

The  Shooting  Horse  lays  claim  to  both  the  Thighs ; 

The  Knees  upon  the  Headstrong  Goat  relies. 

The  Waterman,  he  both  the  Legs  doth  claim, 

The  Fishes  rule  the  Feet  and  meet  the  Ram  again. 

Moore's  Vox  Stellarum,  1721. 

90 


The  pictorial  representation  of  the  influence  of  the  zodiac 
on  human  anatomy,  well-known  to  every  reader  of  modern 
patent  medicine  almanacs,  was  familiar  to  the  astrologers 
and  occultists  of  the  Hradschin,  having  appeared  as  early  as 
1496  in  the  famous  encyclopedia  "Margarita  Philosophica" 
of  Gregor  Reisch,  and  being  frequently  copied  into  works  on 
medical  astrology,  and  into  almanacs. 

Just  two  years  before  the  death  of  the  Emperor  Rudolph, 
William  Shakespeare  was  writing  the  play  of  Coriolanus ;  in 
this  he  alludes  to  the  picture  of  a  nude  man  surrounded  by 
signs  of  the  zodiac.  Menenius  says  to  Sicinius :  "If  you  see 
this  in  the  map  of  my  microcosm,  follow  it  that  I  am  known 
well  enough  too?'' 

Tycho  Brahe  was  of  a  singularly  superstitious  nature, 
producing  timidity;  if  on  leaving  his  house  he  met  an  old 
woman  he  was  accustomed  to  return  home  at  once,  regarding 
the  encounter  as  an  evil  omen ;  if  he  met  a  hare  in  the  fields 
he  thought  it  a  dangerous  sign ;  more  unlucky  still  were  swine, 
and  on  meeting  them  he  used  to  spit,  in  the  same  way  as  did 
many  superstitious  Jews,  to  ward  off  evil  influences.  An  in- 
verted slipper,  salt  spilled  at  table,  or  three  lighted  candles 
on  one  table,  caused  him  great  anxiety,  while  to  sit  down 
thirteen  at  a  meal  was  simply  tempting  Providence.  He  used 
to  relate  to  those  willing  to  listen,  and  this  embraced  every 
one,  that  if  a  twig  was  broken  from  a  cherry-tree  on  Saint 
Barbara's  day  and  watered  daily,  it  would  bear  blossoms  on 
the  succeeding  Christmas;  to  be  lucky  in  gambling  as  well 
as  in  love  he  carried  part  of  a  hangman's  halter  and  a  lapis 
alectorius,  a  stone  about  the  size  of  a  bean  sometimes  found 
in  the  stomach  of  a  fowl. 

"For  worthless  matters  some  are  wondrous  sad, 
Whome  if  I  call  not  vaine  I  must  terme  mad. 
If  that  their  noses  bleed  some  certain  drops, 
And  then  again  upon  the  suddaine  stops, 

91 


Or,  if  the  babbling  foule  we  call  a  jay, 

A  squirrel,  or  a  hare,  but  crosse  their  way, 

Or,  if  the  salt  fall  towards  them  at  table, 

Or  if  any  such  like  superstitious  bable ; 

Their  mirth  is  spoiled,  because  they  hold  it  true 

That  some  mischance  must  thereupon  ensue." 

According  to  the  Danish  astronomer,  two  and  thirty  days 
in  every  year  were  particularly  unlucky,  these  were:  — 

January      1,  2,  4,  6,  11,  12,  21. 

February    11,  17,  18. 

March         1,  14,  15. 

April  10,  17,  18. 

May  17,  18. 

June  6. 

July  17,  21. 

August        20,  21. 

September  10,  18. 

October       6.  . 

November  6,  18. 

December    6,  11,  18. 

A  child  born  on  either  of  these  days  would  certainly  die 
in  infancy;  a  man  taken  sick  on  these  days  would  seldom 
recover;  a  man  married  on  these  days  would  experience 
poverty  and  misery ;  whosoever  moves  from  one  house  to  an- 
other, or  changes  his  service,  or  travels  from  one  country 
into  another  on  any  of  these  days  will  have  trouble;  to  buy 
or  to  sell,  to  begin  any  new  enterprise  on  these  days  is  very 
unlucky,  and  he  who  goes  to  court  will  lose  the  judgment. 
To  these  32  unlucky  days  must  be  added  the  52  Fridays, 
making  84  black  and  281  white  days  in  each  year. 

"Beside  they  give  attention  to  blinde  astronomers, 
About  th' aspects  in  every  howre  of  sundrie  shining  stars ; 
And  underneath  what  planet  every  man  is  born  and  bred, 
What  good  or  evill  fortune  doth  hang  over  every  hed." 

Naogeorgus* 

92 


Tycho  Brahe  is  said  to  have  abandoned  belief  in  judicial 
astrology  in  the  later  years  of  his  life,  while  the  younger 
philosopher  Kepler  died  in  the  position  of  professional  astrol- 
oger to  the  wealthy  and  powerful  General  Wallenstein,  Duke 
of  Mecklenburg,  at  his  residence  in  Silesia  (1629). 

Rudolph  was  very  well  acquainted  with  the  mechanic  arts 
and  fond  of  collecting  curiosities  of  mechanism,  such  as  auto- 
mata, peculiar  clocks,  and  novel  instruments  for  measuring 
distances,  models  of  machines  for  raising  water,  of  windmills, 
and  of  devices  for  facilitating  the  transportation  of  persons 
and  goods ;  some  of  these  were  made  by  the  celebrated  me- 
chanic Christopher  Schissler  of  Augsburg,  one  of  whose 
quadrants  is  now  preserved  at  Oxford.  The  Emperor  had  a 
collection  of  models  that  would  interest  and  amuse  a  modern 
Patent  Office  examiner;  among  them  were  two  odometers  of 
unusual  construction  that  not  only  indicated  the  distance 
travelled  but  recorded  it  on  paper.  One  of  these  is  said  to 
have  been  invented  by  the  Emperor  himself;  they  are  described 
by  De  Boot  in  his  "Gemmarum  et  Lapidum  Historia,"  and 
one  of  them  is  figured  by  Athanasius  Kircher  in  his  "Magnes, 
sive  de  Arte  Magnetica,"  1643. 

Rudolph  was  always  on  the  lookout  for  novel  inventions 
that  he  thought  could  be  turned  to  practical  uses,  and  when 
he  learned  that  the  problem  of  perpetual  motion  had  been 
solved  by  a  Hollander  named  Cornelius  Drebbel,  of  Alkmar, 
he  conceived  that  a  machine  endowed  with  self-producing 
energy  might  be  useful  in  the  imperial  quarries  and  mines. 
Although  Kepler  and  others  tried  to  convince  his  Majesty 
of  the  absurdity  of  perpetual  motion,  Rudolph  invited  Drebbel 
to  visit  Prague. 

Drebbel  was  a  skilled  mechanic  and  an  experimenter  in 
optics ;  in  a  letter  addressed  to  James  I.  of  England,  written 
during  his  sojourn  in  London,  he  boasted  of  having  determined 

93 


the  secrets  of  the  movements  of  the  heavens,  of  the  stars,  of 
the  planets  and  of  the  waters.  "I  have  discovered,"  he  wrote, 
"why  the  earth  floats  in  the  air,  why  the  waters  make  a 
circle  around  the  earth,  and  why  all  things  except  fire  tend 
towards  the  centre  of  the  earth ;  I  have  discovered  the  causes 
of  thunder,  lightning,  rain,  wind  and  the  tides."  And  he 
offered  to  show  the  King  proof  of  his  discovery  of  "Primi 
mobilis"  in  the  shape  of  a  ball  that  revolved  every  twenty- 
four  hours,  and  would  continue  to  do  so  for  a  thousand  years ; 
and  he  referred  to  other  instruments  "made  with  weights, 
springs,  running  waters,  wind  and  fire  that  would  move  per- 
petually, without  expense,  and  furnish  much  power."  It  was 
|  a  report  of  this  letter  that  aroused  the  interest  of  Rudolph. 

Drebbel  has  also  been  credited  with  the  invention  of  the 
thermometer,  but  this  is  a  mistake  based  upon  faulty  inter- 
pretation of  a  simple  experiment  described  by  him  'in  a  treatise 
on  the  "Elements,"  published  in  Dutch  in  1608.  This  ex- 
periment was  the  heating  of  an  empty  retort,  the  neck  of 
which  was  plunged  under  water,  and  observing  the  bubbles 
rising  due  to  the  expansion  of  the  air  within  the  heated  vessel ; 
he  did  not  even  use  the  phenomenon  as  a  thermoscope.  Drebbel, 
however,  is  said  to  have  discovered  the  beautiful  carmine- 
lake  formed  by  the  action  of  tin-salts  on  cochineal. 

After  Drebbel's  arrival  in  Prague,  Rudolph  soon  found 
that  the  perpetuum  mobile  was  useless,  though  he  did  not 
believe  it  fallacious,  and  in  one  of  his  ill-tempered  moods  he 
ordered  the  imprisonment  of  the  unlucky  inventor.  From  his 
dungeon  Drebbel  wrote  a  pleading  letter  to  the  Emperor 
begging  for  freedom  and  promising  to  show  him  a  remark- 
able musical  instrument  described  in  these  words: 

"As  soon  as  the  sun  shines  the  curtains  hanging  before 
the  Clavicymbal  will  be  withdrawn  automatically  and  the 
sweetest  of  music  will  be  heard ;  when  the  sun  sets  or  goes 

94 


t>ehind  a  cloud,  the  curtain  will  close  of  themselves.  At  the 
same  time  a  fountain  will  spring  up  in  two  streams,  and  when 
the  sun  shines  more  than  one  hundred  streams.  Neptune, 
with  sea-goddesses,  and  tritons,  will  emerge  from  a  cavern 
and  wash  in  the  fountain;  and  when  the  sun  ceases  to  shine 
they  will  return  to  their  concealment.  Phoebus  will  come  out 
of  the  clouds  and  seat  himself  in  a  chariot  drawn  by  four 
horses  who  will  advance  by  the  aid  of  their  wings." 

Other  extraordinary  phenomena  were  promised  and  so 
aroused  the  curiosity  of  the  Emperor  that  he  released  Drebbel 
from  prison;  the  Hollander  continued  to  reside  in  Bohemia 
long  after  Rudolph's  death. 


95 


CHAPTER  X. 


RUDOLPH'S  PHYSICIANS. 

"With  us  was  a  doctour  of  physike ; 
In  al  the  world  was  ther  non  hym  lyk 
To  speke  of  physik  and  of  surgerye, 
For  he  was  grounded  in  astronomic. 
He  kept  his  pacient  a  ful  gret  del 
In  hourys  by  his  magyk  naturel; 
Wei  couth  he  fortunen  the  ascendant 
Of  his  ymagys  for  his  pacient." 

Chaucer. 


HE  PHYSICIANS  attached  to  Rudolph's  court,  had 
great  influence  over  the  hypochondriacal  Emperor ; 
several  of  them  were  eminent  botanists  and  some 
were  astrologers  and  alchemists  who  were  ad- 


mitted to  especial  intimacy  with  their  royal  patient. 

When  Rudolph  succeeded  his  father  Maximilian  he  in- 
herited, as  it  were,  the  physicians  of  the  dead  Emperor,  and 
when  he  took  up  his  residence  in  Prague  they  followed  the 
court.  One  of  them,  Pietro  Andrea  Matthioli,  a  Siennese  by 
birth,  was  skilled  in  botany  and  renowned  for  his  commentary 
on  Dioscorides'  work  on  materia  medica,  a  book  that  passed 
through  many  editions  and  was  translated  into  several 
languages;  Matthioli  died,  however,  within  a  year  and  was 
succeeded  by  Adam  Huber  von  Riesenbach.  Another  of 
Maximilian's  physicians,  Dr.  Johann  Crato  von  Kraftheim, 
liad  an  interesting  history;  he  began  his  literary  career  as  a 

96 


DR.    MICHAEL    MAIER. 


theological  student  at  Wittenberg,  where  he  became  a  pupil 
and  friend  of  the  reformer  Martin  Luther  as  well  as  of 
Melanchthon.  He  then  dropped  theology  in  favor  of  medicine 
and  studied  the  latter  at  Verona  and  Padua;  becoming 
eminent  in  his  profession  he  received  the  appointment  of 
private  physician  to  the  Emperor  Ferdinand  I.,  and  though 
a  staunch  Protestant  served  three  successive  Roman  Catholic 
rulers  of  Germany.  After  the  short  reign  of  Ferdinand, 
Kraftheim  continued  with  Maximilian,  and  on  the  death  of 
the  latter  he  was  retained  by  Rudolph  whom  he  served  ten 
years.  He  died  in  1587  at  the  age  of  sixty-seven. 

Rambert  Dodoens,  sometimes  called  the  "Theophrastus  of 
the  Netherlands",  was  very  eminent  in  ancient  literature, 
mathematics  and  astronomy,  but  his  favorite  study  was 
botany.  He  had  been  one  of  the  physicians  at  the  Viennese 
court  for  four  years,  but  shortly  after  his  arrival  in  Prague 
he  had  a  violent  quarrel  with  his  colleague  Dr.  von  Kraft- 
heim, and  became  so  disgusted  with  court  life  that  he  with- 
drew from  Rudolph's  service  and  returned  to  his  native  land, 
where  he  became  Professor  of  Medicine  at  the  University  of 
Ley  den. 

Three  other  physicians  were  conspicuous  at  the  imperial 
court:  Dr.  von  Hayek,  whose  acquaintance  has  already  been 
made,  Dr.  Christopher  Guarinonius  and  Dr.  Michael  Maier. 
Guatinonius  was  a  Veronese  by  birth  and  in  his  youth  filled 
the  post  of  physician  to  the  Duke  of  Urbino ;  at  Rudolph's 
court  he  was  Imperial  Councillor  as  well  as  personal  phy- 
sician and  received  a  high  salary.  The  Doctor  was  an  ardent 
student  of  occult  philosoph}'  as  embodied  in  the  teachings  of 
Henry  Cornelius  Agrippa,  of  whom  many  supernatural  tales 
are  told ;  Agrippa  had  died  sixty  years  before  but  his  writings 
were  held  in  high  estimation.  In  his  medical  practice  Guari- 
nonius was  a  zealous  disciple  of  Paracelsus,  and  he  had  a 

97 


great  reputation  for  elixirs  and  panaceas  that  he  administered 
with  impressive  magical  ceremonies  tinder  favorable  aspects 
of  the  heavenly  bodies.  Never  suffering  from  ill  health  himself 
he  ascribed  his  vigor  to  the  amulets  and  powders  of  sym- 
pathy that  he  wore  on  his  body  at  the  waxing  and  waning 
moon,  the  only  remedies,  by  the  way,  he  was  ever  known  to 
prescribe  gratis.  He  had  the  good  fortune  to  be  entirely 
exempt  from  headache  while  his  colleague  Dr.  Maier  was 
frequently  tortured  by  this  affliction;  this  circumstance  led 
Guarinonius  to  speak  boastingly,  whereupon  Maier  jocosely 
remarked  that  headache  only  attacked  persons  who  were  not 
quite  without  brains,  a  cheap  witticism  that  the  proud  Doctor 
never  forgave. 

Dr.  Michael  Maier  was  a  younger  man  and  much  better 
educated;  he  held  the  office  of  private  secretary  to  Rudolph, 
as  well  as  physician,  and  rejoiced  in  the  titles  Doctor  of 
Medicine,  Doctor  of  Philosophy,  Imperial  Palatine  Count  and 
Knight  of  the  Holy  Roman  Empire ;  he  was  a  philosopher  of 
the  Rosicrucian  stamp  although  that  mystical  fraternity  had 
not  yet  disturbed  the  scientific  and  literary  world  by  its 
extraordinary  assumptions  and  claims ;  he  was  also  a  master 
in  theosophy  and  attempted  to  give  a  hermetic  interpretation 
to  the  mythologies  of  ancient'  Greece  and  Rome.  Maier  was 
especially  intimate  with  the  Emperor  and  remained  in  his 
service  until  the  death  of  his  Majesty;  later  in  life  he 
published  a  series  of  incomprehensible  theosophical  books, 
now  highly  valued  by  bibliophiles  for  their  singular  engravings 
and  rarity. 

Of  similar  intellectual  bias  was  Dr.  Oswald  Croll.  of 
Hesse,  who  held  the  post  of  physician  in  ordinary  to 
Christian,  Prince  of  Anhalt,  before  he  joined  the  corps 
attached  to  the  palace  on  the  Hradschin.  He  too  was  a  dis- 
ciple of  Paracelsus  and  adopted  his  views  on  astral  virtues, 

98 


signatures,  physiognomy,  chiromancy,  gnomes,  sylphs  and 
parallels  of  celestial  and  terrestrial  bodies,  all  of  which  in- 
fluenced his  medical  practice;  yet  Croll  described  many  chemi- 
cal substances  and  reactions  with  comparative  accuracy  and 
showed  admirable  knowledge  of  human  nature  when  he 
wrote:  "It  is  the  principal  part  of  a  physician  that  would 
cure  the  sick  first  to  comfort  the  heart  and  afterwards  to 
assault  the  disease". 

Anselm  Boethius  de  Boodt,  of  Bruges  in  Flanders,  the 
favorite  physician  of  Rudolph  in  his  later  }^ears,  was  especially 
esteemed  on  account  of  his  great  learning  in  gems  and  pre- 
cious stones;  his  "History  of  Gems  and  Stones,"  published  in 
1609,  is  still  recognized  as  an  important  treatise  and  very 
creditable  for  the  time.  Boethius  had  another  claim  to 
Rudolph's  appreciation  being  an  advocate  of  the  verity  of 
transmutation,  a  belief  acquired  in  the  following  manner: 
when  still  a  young  student  of  medicine  he  accidentHr  found 
among  his  father's  books  an  antique  manuscript  entitled 
"Cytnbalum  aureum,"  written  on  parchment  and  covered 
with  two  half-broken,  thick  boards;  wishing  to  re-cover  the 
book  he  removed  the  boards  and  discovered  in  one  a  cavity 
containing  a  small  piece  of  paper  folded  tight;  on  examining 
this  he  perceived  a  few  grains  of  a  red  powder  and  some 
hieroglyphical  \vords  on  the  inner  surface  of  the  paper.  By 
hard  study  the  young  man  deciphered  the  writing  and  found 
that  it  explained  the  process  of  using  the  powder  in  trans- 
mutation; he  made  an  experiment  on  mercury  heated  in  a 
crucible  and  the  red  powder  changed  the  metal  in  one  quarter 
of  an  hour  into  fine  gold.  Unfortunately  he  used  the  whole 
amount  of  the  powder  at  one  operation,  but  this  experience 
served  to  convince  him  of  the  verity  of  alchemy.  . 

Although  Boethius  de  Boodt  was  really  learned  in  pre- 
cious stones,  crystals,  corals  and  shells,  he  shared  the  super- 

99 


or  THE 
UNIVERSITY 


stition  of  the  day  respecting  their  value  as  remedies  in  disease ; 
he  regarded  the  sapphire  as  efficacious  in  ague,  gout  and 
nose-bleeding,  the  topaz  as  a  cure  for  lunacy,  the  cornelian 
as  mitigating  the  "heat  of  the  mind  and  qualifying  malice," 
and  doubtless  prescribed  many  a  dose  of  lapis  lazuli  for  the 
melancholia  to  which  Rudolph  was  subject.  Pieces  of  blood- 
red  jasper  were  highly  prized  for  their  power  of  stopping 
hemorrhages,  and  Boethius  relates  how  he  cured  a  maid  in 
Prague  of  a  hemorrhage  of  six  years  standing  (for  which  she 
had  often  been  bled),  by  merely  hanging  a  jasper  around  her 
neck.  If  she  neglected  to  wear  the  stone  the  hemorrhage 
would  return,  and  this  continued  to  be  the  case  for  many 
months  until  the  disease  eventually  left  her. 

Dr.  Christopher  Guarinonius  died  in  September  1601,  and 
Gottfried  Steegius,  the  physician  of  Bishop  Julius  of  Wiirz- 
burg,  was  invited  to  the  imperial  court ;  he  was  distinguished 
for  being  one  of  the  first  to  write  in  praise  of  the  mineral 
waters  of  Kissingen ;  Rudolph  became  much  attached  to  him 
and  had  his  portrait  engraved  on  copper  by  the  court  artist 
Gilles  Sadeler. 

The  physicians  connected  with  the  court  received  large 
salaries  at  a  time  when  the  profession  was  but  poorly  re- 
compensed; dressed  in  their  long,  velvet-trimmed,  silken 
doctor's  robes,  and  in  fur  pelisses,  they  commanded  great 
respect  which  was  enhanced  by  their  air  of  mystery  and 
pompous  assumption  of  secret  learning.  Outside  of  the  court 
officials  their  practice  was  chiefly  among  noblemen,  rich 
merchants  and  burgesses  of  Prague,  while  the  common  people 
resorted  to  vagabond  charlatans,  priests,  barbers,  itinerant 
drug-peddlers  and  hangmen  (!),  or,  from  economical  motives 
they  depended  upon  appeals  to  the  saints.  The  prodigious 
army  of  quack-doctors,  and  the  mischief  they  wrought,  led 
to  the  adoption  of  an  ordinance  in  the  city  of  Nuremberg 

100 


forbidding  the  practice  of  medicine  by  ''Empirics,  peddlers  of 
theriaca,  tooth-drawers,  alchemists,  distillers,  ruined  trades- 
men, Jews,  dealers  in  the  black  art  and  old  women  ac- 
customed to  attend  the  sick." 

A  superficial  survey  of  the  condition  of  the  healing  art 


PREPARATION  OF  THERIAC. 

From  Brunschwick's  "Destillirbuch,"  Strassburg,  1500. 

in  the  sixteenth  century  would  fill  a  volume  with  a  painful 
exhibition  of  ignorance,  superstition  and  folly.  Pliny  long 
ago  wrote  that  medicine  was  born  of  magic,  was  fortified  by 
astrology  and  acquired  all  its  splendor  and  authority  from 
religion,  associations  that  exerted  malign  influence  on  man- 
kind in  civilized  countries  for  centuries  and  still  inflicts  misery 

101 


among  savage  races.  It  may  be  that  Ashmole  was  right 
when  he  wrote:  "Incredulity  is  given  to  the  world  as  a 
punishment/'  but  it  would  seem  that  credulity  has  proved  a 
still  greater  cause  of  unhappiness. 

The  association  of  astrology  with  medical  practice  had 
been  regarded  as  essential  since  the  days  of  Galen  and  Hippo- 
crates ;  the  former  declared  that  physicians  ignorant  of  astro- 
logy were  no  better  than  murderers  ;  "So  far  are  they  distant 
from  the  true  knowledge  of  physic  which  are  ignorant  of 
astrology,  that  they  ought  not  rightly  to  be  called  physicians 
but  deceivers ;  for  it  hath  been  many  times  experimented  that 
that  which  many  physicians  could  not  cure  or  remedy  with 
the  greatest  and  strongest  medicines,  the  astronomer  hath 
brought  to  pass  with  one  simple  herb  by  observing  the 
moving  of  the  signs."  Medicinal  plants  were  gathered  at  the 
appropriate  age  of  the  moon,  distillations  were  carried  on 
under  the  proper  conjunctions  of  the  planets,  and  the  medicine 
thus  concocted  was  given  to  the  patients  only  under  suitable 
astronomical  conditions.  Magical  healing  power  was  at- 
tributed not  only  to  the  greatest  variety  of  objects  belonging 
to  the  mineral,  vegetable  and  animal  kingdoms,  but  to  purely 
mental  operations  as  well;  physicians  prescribed: — 

.  .  .  "Divers  verses  of  St.  John 
Which,  read  successively,  refreshed  the  soul, 
But,  muttered  backwards,  cured  the  gout,  the  stones, 
The  colic  and  what  not." 

Some  insight  into  the  character  of  the  healing  art  as 
practiced  in  the  sixteenth  century  may  be  obtained  by  examin- 
ing the  methods  of  treating  a  single  disease,  epilepsy,  that 
distressing  malady  which  still  baffles  the  wisdom  of  modern 
science.  Rings  composed  of  diverse  substances  were  worn  to 
prevent  the  attacks;  a  ring  made  of  three  nails  or  screws 
that  had  been  .used  to  fasten  a  coffin,  or  one  made  of  five 

102 


PARACELSUS. 


OFTHt 

UNIVERSITY 

OF 


silver  coins  collected  from  five  bachelors  and  forged  by  a 
silversmith  himself  a  bachelor,  were  especially  efficacious.  An 
elk's  hoof  was  also  recommended,  but  much  depended  on  the 
way  the  hoof  was  obtained,  for  the  virtue  resided  in  only 
one  of  the  four  legs;  the  animal  was  knocked  down  and 
watched  until  he  lifted  a  leg  to  scratch  his  ear,  that  leg  was 
then  lopped  off  with  a  scimitar,  and  in  its  hoof  lay  the  remedy. 

The  elder-bush  was  another  specific  against  the  "falling 
sickness"  as  epilepsy  was  appropriately  called.  In  the  month 
of  October,  a  little  before  the  full  moon,  a  twig  of  the  elder 
was  plucked,  cutting  a  portion  between  two  knots  into 
nine  pieces,  and  these  pieces  were  wrapped  in  a  piece-  of 
linen  and  hung  by  a  thread  about  the  neck  so  as  to  touch 
the  "spoon  of  the  heart  or  the  sword-formed  cartilage ;"  these 
pieces  were  held  in  place  by  a  silken  bandage  around  the 
body  until  the  thread  broke  of  itself,  they  were  then  removed 
\vithout  touching  them  with  the  hands,  but  with  tongs  or 
pincers  only,  and  buried  in  a  secret  place. 

Another  amulet  worn  on  the  person  as  a  preventive 
against  epilepsy  contained  the  names  of  the  three  Magi  who 
came  from  the  East  to  worship  the  Divine  Babe  at  Bethlehem. 

"Jasper  brings  myrrh,  and  Melchior  incense  brings, 
And  gold  Balthazar  to  the  King  of  Kings ; 
Whoso  the  names  of  these  three  monarchs  bears 
Is  safe,  through  grace,  of  Epilepsy's  fears." 

As  chemical  medicines  came  more  into  vogue  nauseous 
concoctions  were  administered  for  this  disease  of  which  the 
following  is  a  good  example: —  "Calcine  vitriol  until  it  be- 
comes yellow,  add  mistle-toe,  hearts  of  peonies,  elk's  hoofs, 
and  the  pulverized  skull  of  a  malefactor;  distill  all  these  dry, 
rectify  the  distillate  over  castoreum  and  elephant's  lice,  then 
mix  with  salt  of  peony,  spirit  of  wine,  liquor  of  pearls  and 
corals,  oil  of  anisseed  and  oil  of  amber,  and  digest  on  a 
water-bath  one  month." 

103 


The  climax  of  credulity  in  medical  practice  seems  to  have 
been  reached  in  the  cure  of  disease  by  "transplantation/'  a 
system  which  originated  with  Paracelsus  and  found  ready 
acceptance  in  Germany,  France  and  England  for  more  than 
a  centur}r.  The  singular  power  of  the  lodestone  to  attract 
particles  of  iron  was  thought  to  be  magical,  that  is  super-- 
natural, and  analogous  occult  power  was  attributed  to  arti- 
ficial magnets  capable  of  drawing  to  themselves  diseases  and 
of  transplanting  them  into  animals,  plants  and  the  soil. 
These  magnets  were  prepared  in  several  ways  usually  with 
most  disgusting  ingredients,  often  including  some  excretion 
of  the  patient;  they  were  buried  in  the  earth  or  given  to 
some  animal  and  thought  to  transfer  the  malady.  Other 
simpler  methods  of  magnetic  healing  were  also  employed; 
thus  toothache  was  to  be  cured  by  rubbing  the  gums  until 
they  bled,  with  the  root  of  a  certain  plant  which  then  was 
buried  again  in  the  earth,  thus  the  blood  carried  off  the  cause 
of  the  pain  and  transferred  it  to  the  earth.  A  cucumber  laid 
by  the  side  of  the  sleeping  infant  suffering  with  fever,  \vould 
wither  and  dry  up  while  the  child  would  recover. 

These  cures  were  said  to  be  accomplished  sympathetically 
and  one  of  the  most  interesting  developments  of  the  theory 
was  the  "sympathetic  ointment"  for  curing  flesh  wounds; 
this  remarkable  salve  was  compounded  as  follows : — 

Take  of  the  moss  that  had  grown 

on  the  skull  of  a  thief. 2  oz. 

Of  man's  grease 2  oz. 

Of  mummy J/2  oz. 

Of  man's  blood %  oz. 

Of  linseed  oil 2  dr. 

Of  oil  of  roses 1  dr. 

Of  bole-armoniack 1  dr. 

Beat  them  all  together  in  a  mortar  until  they  make 
a  pure  and  subtil  ointment  and  keep  it  in  a  box. 
104 


This  salve  was  applied  to  the  weapon,  bludgeon,  sword 
or  axe,  with  which  a  wound  had  been  made,  and  the  weapon 
thus  anointed  was  wrapped  up  in  a  clean  linen  cloth  and  put 
aside  in  a  cool  place.  A  carpenter  cut  himself  with  an  axe; 
the  cutting  instrument  was  sent  for,  cleansed  of  the  blood, 
besmeared  with  the  weapon-salve,  covered  with  linen  and 
hung  up  in  a  closet;  the  workman  was  immediately  relieved, 
and  all  went  well  until  one  day  the  wound  became  exceedingly 
painful,  when  it  was  found  that  the  axe  had  fallen  from  its 
place  and  become  uncovered:  the  axe  was  restored  to  its 
place  and  the  man  was  restored  to  health.  Nothing  was 
done  to  the  patient  except  to  wash  the  wound  and  this 
allowed  nature  to  perform  the  cure;  surgeons  employ  the 
same  method  to-day  barring  the  care  of  the  weapon. 

"But  she  has  ta'en  the  broken  lance 
And  washed  it  from  the  clotted  gore, 
And  salv'd  the  splinter  o'er  and  o'er." 

Notwithstanding  the  degradation  of  medicine  by  magic, 
astrology  and  superstitious  practices,  the  sixteenth  century 
saw  an  upward  movement  towards  a  rational  system ;  medi- 
cine began  to  cast  off  the  shackles  of  blind  authority  under 
the  influence  of  free  investigation,  overthrowing  Galen,  the 
''Medical  Pope  of  the  Middle  Ages",  and  the  Arabian  school, 
and  to  replace  these  tyrannical  masters  by  Hippocratic 
doctrines  and  independent  methods.  This  advance  was  made 
in  spite  of  the  conservative  universities  instead  of  through 
them,  for  the  curriculum  of  medical  students  embraced  little 
more  than  discussions  and  explanations  of  certain  works  of 
the  Greeks  and  Arabians,  with  no  opportunity  of  practical, 
experimental  methods.  Even  anatomy  was  studied  as  taught 
in  Galen's  writings,  although  the  golden  age  of  the  great 
anatomists,  Yesalius,  Pallopius  and  Eustachius  was  close  at 
hand. 

105 


Failing  to  find  in  the  universities  advanced  thought  and 
new  methods,  those  who  were  determined  to  gain  superior 
acquirements  substituted  for  their  conservative  teachings  long 
and  distant  travels,  extending  through  years  and  to  Oriental 
countries,  "whereby  the  wanderers  came  in  contact  with 
learned  men  of  different  schools,  and  became  acquainted  with 
the  newest  discoveries  and  improvements  in  medicine,  phar- 
macy and  the  natural  sciences.  There  was  no  periodical  press 
in  those  days,  and  like  the  Athenians  and  strangers  of  old 
they  assembled  in  the  market-places  of  many  cities  to  tell  or 
to  hear  some  new  thing.  Pierre  Belon,  a  French  physician, 
travelled  for  three  j^ears  in  Asia  Minor,  Greece,  Egypt  and 
Arabia,  and  brought  back  with  him  a  fund  of  knowledge 
concerning  medicinal  plants  and  useful  drugs. 

Paracelsus,  that  "strange  and  paradoxical  genius,"  re- 
garded by  some  as  a  most  unprincipled  quack  and  by  others 
as  a  beneficent  reformer  of  medical  art,  acquired  most  of  his 
unquestioned  knowledge  by  travelling  in  many  parts  of  the 
world  and  consulting  monks,  conjurers,  barber-surgeons  and 
empirics  reputed  to  possess  secret  remedies;  becoming  aware 
of  the  virtues  of  opium  and  mercury  he  effected  many  aston- 
ishing cures,  but  this  vain-glorious,  self-styled  "monarch  of 
physicians,"  clothed  his  really  original  ideas  in  "fantastic 
boasting  and  superstitious  rhodomontade";  moreover  his 
doctrines  were  imbued  with  theosophy,  kabbalism  and  neo- 
platonic  philosophy,  and  his  disciples  failed  to  separate  the 
wheat  from  the  chaff.  Nevertheless  under  their  influence  the 
pharmacopoeia  began  to  improve,  especially  by  the  introduc- 
tion of  inorganic  chemical  preparations;  "Chemistry,"  said 
Paracelsus,  "is  not  designed  to  make  gold  but  medicines." 
Nevertheless  his  practices  gave  Butler  occasion  to  write: 

"Bombastus  kept  a  Devil's  Bird 
Shut  in  the  pommel  of  his  sword 
That  taught  him  all  the  cunning  pranks 
Of  past  and  future  mountebanks." 

106 


Paracelsus  united  in  his  person  the  functions  of  physician 
and  surgeon,  a  rare  combination  at  that  period;  surgery  in 
a  very  crude  form  was  practiced  by  barbers  and  was  re- 
garded as  a  disreputable  handicraft  even  in  the  eyes  of  the 
law;  to  raise  it  to  an  honorable  calling  Charles  V.,  seven 
years  after  the  death  of  Paracelsus,  promulgated  an  edict  to 
dignify  the  standing  of  surgeons,  a  law  which  was  renewed 
by.  Rudolph  in  1577. 

Another  important  influence  was  at  work  in  the  sixteenth 
century  hastening  the  overthrow  of  the  slavish  devotion  to 
ancient  authorities;  physicians  educated  in  the  classical 
languages  took  up  the  study  of  the  early  writers  on  medicine 
and  translated  them  and  edited  them  with  commentaries, 
often  proving  the  current  interpretations  to  be  false ;  so  great 
a  role  did  this  play  that  a  recent  historian  has  claimed  that 
"Philology  is  the  mother  of  modern  medicine." 

Dr.  Pettigrew  has  summarized  the  situation  in  these 
words: — "The  errors  in  medicine  have  usually  originated  in 
the  speculative  conceits  of  men  of  superior  capacities;  the 
blunders  of  the  weak  are  short  lived,  but  a  false  theory,  with 
a  semblance  of  nature,  struck  in  the  mint  of  genius,  often 
deceives  the  learned  and  passes  current  through  the  world.'1 


107 


CHAPTER  XI. 
THE  BUDOLPHINE  ACADEMY  OF  MEDICINE. 

"Here  dwelleth  the  physician 
Whose  most  infallible  nostrum  was  at  fault; 
There  quaked  the  astrologer,  whose  horoscope 
Has  promised  him  interminable  years; 
Here  a  monk  fumbled  at  the  sick  man's  mouth 
With  some  undoubted  relic  ....  a  sudary 

Of  the  Virgin." 

Browning. 

>CTOR  Christopher  Guarinonius,  though  admitted- 
ly a  man  of  great  learning,  was  in  the  habit  of 
prescribing  the  nauseous  remedies  characteristic  of 
medical  practice  in  all  countries  at  the  close  of  the 
sixteenth  century.  He  was  especially  fond  of  an  Elixir  vitae 
prepared  under  his  directions,  and  was  always  boasting  of 
the  wonderful  cures  it  had  accomplished;  the  fame  of  this 
panacea  extended  far  beyond  the  "coasts  of  Bohemia, "  and 
when  Pope  Clement  VIII.  was  attacked  by  a  dangerous 
malady  messengers  were  sent  in  haste  to  summon  the  eminent 
physician  of  Prague,  who,  with  the  Emperor's  consent,  ac- 
cepted the  call  and  made  the  journey  to  Rome.  As  the  Pope 
lived  for  many  years  after  Guarinonius'  visit,  the  elixir  was 
presumably : 

"A  perfect  medicine  for  bodies  that  be  sick 
Of  all  infirmities  to  be  relieved," 

1O8 


and  it  becomes  of  interest  to  learn  its  composition,  which 
happily  has  been  recorded. 

Elixir  Vitae  Guarinonii. 

Cinnamon  10  drachms. 

Ginger  5        do. 

Zedoary  4       do. 

Nutmeg  3       do. 

Elder-root  2        do. 

Calamus  1       do. 

Dissolve  in  a  decoction  of  lemon-juice  mixed  with  strong 

spirits  of  wine.    A  half  pint  before  meals,  the  moon  in 
Cancer,  Leo  or  Virgo. 

Guarinonius  was  delighted  at  the  opportunity  of  visiting 
Italy  as  it  permitted  him  to  fulfil  a  vow  to  thank  in  person 
the  inventor  of  his  Elixir,  who  was  no  less  than  the  wooden 
statue  of  the  Madonna  di  Loretto.  This  highly-revered  image, 
carved  by  St.  Luke  and  brought  by  angels  from  Bethlehem 
with  the  Casa  Santa,  is  still  exhibited  to  the  faithful, 
"and  in  a  curled  white  wig  looks  wondrous  fine.'* 

The  Virgin  of  Loretto  had  appeared  to  the  physician  in 
a  dream  and  dictated  the  composition  of  the  all-healing  con- 
coction; perhaps  the  surmise  may  be  hazarded  that  the  "be- 
loved physician"  St.  Luke,  the  sculptor  of  the  statue,  was 
the  original  discoverer.  The  religious  fervor  of  Dr.  Guari- 
nonius was  also  manifested  by  his  repairing  at  his  own  ex- 
pense the  'oratory  of  Saint  Notburga  which  had  been  con- 
structed in  her  honor  out  of  her  little  bedroom  in  Castle 
Rottenburg,  where  she  had  lived  nearly  400  years  before. 
This  pious  act  was  accomplished  in  1600;  the  peasant  Saint 
is  still  highly  venerated  in  the  Tirol,  her  remains  being  pre- 
served in  a  little  chapel  on  the  borders  of  the  beautiful 
Achensee., 

On  his  return  to  Prague,  Guarinonius,  now  called  "Doctor 
Elixirabilis,"  assumed  a  conspicuous  place  by  founding  at 

109 


Academy  of  Medicine  which  was  appropriately  named  in 
honor  of  the  Emperor  Rudolph.  Its  membership  embraced  the 
physicians  of  the  court  and  of  the  city,  a  few  of  the  residents 
of  "Gold  Alley,"  the  astrologers,  magicians  and  other  learned 
men  surrounding  the  Emperor,  and  the  retainers  who  worked 
in  the  imperial  laboratories.  The  presiding  officer  and  moving 
spirit  of  the  society  was  Guarinonius  himself,  and  the  secre- 
tary was  Chevalier  Adam  Zaluzansky,  the  Bohemian  natur- 
alist who  is  said  to  have  anticipated  Linnaeus  in  his  discovery 
of  the  sexual  system  of  plants.  Prominent  members  were 
the  physicians  Maier,  Croll  and  Boethius;  Martin  Ruland, 
author  of  a  Lexicon  of  Alchemy;  the  Vice  Chancellor  Jacob 
Curtius ;  Hans  Hayden ;  Johann  Marquard  Kiirbach ;  Hierony- 
mus  Makowsky,  all  Gentlemen  of  the  Privy  Chamber;  Hip- 
polytus  Guarinonius,  the  young  son  of  the  president,  who 
afterwards  distinguished  himself  by  a  huge  folio  on  "The 
Evils  that  Waste  Mankind"  (Grauel  der  Verwiistung  mensch- 
lichen  Geschlechtes,  Ingolstadt,  1610);  also  the  court  poet  and 
jester  Mardochaeus  deDelle  and  the  favorite  valets  of  Rudolph, 
Philip  Lang  von  Langenfels  and  Kaspar  Rucky  von  Rudz. 
Dr.  Thaddeus  von  Hayek  had  died  in  1600,  protomedicus  of 
Bohemia,  a  short  time  before  the  founding  of  the  Academy. 
Tycho  Brahe  and  John  Kepler  were  occasional  attendants 
and  their  attainments  in  astronomy  made  them  most  wel- 
come; the  journeymen  alchemists  visiting  their  colleagues  in 
"Gold  Alley"  were  often  present  at  meetings  as  invited  guests ; 
Dr.  Steegius  joined  the  society  later. 

At  one  of  the  largely  attended  meetings  of  the  Rudolphine 
Academy  of  Medicine  the  secretary  Zaluzansky  read  a  report 
on  the  wonderful  elixir  discovered  by  Antonio  Michele,  a 
protege*  of  the  wealthy  William  von  Rosenberg.  This  Italian 
alchemist  was  first  employed  as  an  architect,  but  soon  de- 
veloped latent  talent  for  hermetic  labors,  and  von  Rosenberg 

no 


MATERIA    MEDICA. 
From  Brunschwig's  Destillirbuch,  Strassburg,   1500. 


built  for  him  a  well  arranged  laboratory  in  the  rear  of  his 
magnificent  castle  at  Krumau;  Michele  required  for  his  ex- 
periments large  sums  of  money  and  promised  his  lordship 
splendid  results.  The  renowned  elixir  was  compounded  as 
follows : 

Elixir  Michclii. 

Colcothar  6  oz. 

Fused  salt  5  dr. 

Myrrh  of  Alexandria  4  oz. 

Sugared  Aloes  purified  4  oz. 

Mastic  3  oz. 

Saffran  ^  oz. 

Flour  of  Sulfur  1  &  Va  Ib. 

Pulverize  well  in  a  mortar,    mix  finely  and  heat  twelve 

hours  in  an  alembic  at  a  moderate  heat. 
One  drachm  of  this  elixir  administered  in  syrup  of  lemons 
or  honey-water  is  most  efficacious  against  the  plague, 
fevers,  pleurisy,  colic,  pain  in  the  lungs,   and  diseases  of 
the  liver. 

At  the  close  of  the  report  the  president  of  the  Academy 
said  he  hoped  the  members  would  test  this  simple  remedy  and 
bear  witness  to  its  virtues  at  a  future  meeting.* 

Doctor  Michael  Maier  then  addressed  the  society  on  the 
antiquity  and  nobility  of  medicine;  "it  is,'*  said  he,  " a  divine 
science,  even  God's  theology,  for  the  Almighty  wrote  His 


*  Chinese  physicians  of  the  present  day  have  made  little  advance  beyond  those 
of  the  sixteenth  century.  A  Chinaman  who  has  a  large  practice  in  San  Francisco 
among  highly  respectable  Americans  prescribed  the  following  abominable  decoction 
as  a  panacea  for  a  variety  of  dissimilar  diseases :  — 

Chinese  Panacea. 
Dried  lizard 
Saffron 
Rubber  bark 
Peppermint 
Lpvage 
Liquorice 

Beans,  a  peculiar  species, 
Dried  locusts 
Water  bugs 
Silk  worms 
Pith  of  a  Chinese  tree 
Elm  bark 

A  pinch  of  each  boiled  in  one  quart  of  water  down  to  the  volume 
of  one  pint.     Dose  a  teaspoonful  as  often  as  required. 

Ill 


Scripture  in  that  language  before  He  made  Adam  to  read  it. 
The  ten  Fathers  before  the  Flood  and  those  that  followed, 
together  with  Moses  and  Solomon,  were  the  great  physicians 
in  former  ages,  who  bequeathed  their  heavenly  knowledge  of 
naturall  helpes  to  those  they  judged  as  well  worthy  in  honesty 
and  industry  as  capable  thereof;  and  from  their  piercing 
beams  all  nations  lighted  their  tapers.  Abraham  brought  it 
out  of  Chaldea  and  bestowed  much  thereof  on  Egypt,  and 
thence  a  refulgent  beam  glanced  into  Greece."  Continuing  to 
sketch  the  early  history  of  medicine,  Dr.  Maier  introduced  an 
original  interpretation  of  the  passage  in  the  book  of  Genesis 
running  thus:  "And  the  Spirit  of  God  moved  upon  the  face 
of  the  waters;  and  God  said  'Let  there  be  light'  and  there 
was  light."  This  he  said  was  a  prophetic  announcement  by 
the  Almighty  of  the  light  of  alchemy,  the  blessed  effulgence 
destined  to  illumine  the  world. 

Maier's  learned  address  led  to  a  brief  discussion,  intro- 
duced by  Ruland,  as  to  the  best  edition  of  the  "Practical 
Chemistry  of  Miriam,"  Moses'  sister,  and  not  one  of  the 
Academicians  dreamed  of  questioning  the  authenticity  of  the 
mythical  writings.  Dr.  Ruland,  having  the  floor,  stated  he 
had  received  a  letter  from  Dr.  Jacob  Horst,  Professor  of  medi- 
cine in  the  University  of  Helmstadt,  describing  a  wonderful 
prodigy,  a  boy  in  whose  jaw  a  golden  tooth  had  developed. 
The  Professor  considered  this  miracle  as  a  result  of  the  con- 
stellations under  which  the  boy  was  born,  the  sun  being  in 
conjunction  with  Saturn  in  the  sign  Aries.  He  also  regarded 
the  golden  tooth  as  prognosticating  the  expulsion  of  the 
Turks,  those  barbarous  enemies  of  Christendom,  from  Europe, 
and  the  near  approach  of  the  millenium. 

At  the  mention  of  the  Turks,  Dr.  Oswald  Croll  half  rose 
to  his  feet,  but  a  severe  look  from  the  president  obliged  him 
to  resume  his  seat.  As  soon  as  Ruland  ceased  speaking,  Dr. 

112 


Croll  arose  and  said  that  the  terrible  plague  which  had  been 
introduced  into  Bohemia  by  the  Turks  was  a  difficult  disease 
to  combat;  he  had  found,  however,  that  thef  Tincture  of 
mummy"  was  of  signal  service,  and  he  would  communicate 
to  the  Academy  its  preparation  under  pledge  of  secrecy:  — 
" Select  the  fresh  cadaver  of  a  red-haired,  spotless  malefactor, 
twenty-four  years  of  age,  killed  by  hanging,  or  by  being  im- 


APOTHECARY  SHOP  OF  THE  SIXTEENTH  CENTURY. 

paled  or  broken  on  the  wheel,  upon  which  corpse  the  sun  and 
moon  had  shone  but  once;  cut  it  in  slices,  sprinkle  it  with 
myrrh  and  aloes,  then  macerate  the  pieces  in  spirit  of  wine 
for  several  days.  In  desperate  cases  the  efficiency  of  this 
tincture  can  be  strengthened  by  mixing  it  with  salt  of  pearls, 
salt  of  coral,  olive  and  musk,  the  mixture  being  digested  in 
a  water-bath  one  month,  stirring  it  every  day.'^ 

Kaspar  von  Rudz  remarked  that  his  wealthy  father-in-law, 
with  whom  he  lived,  was  very  low  with  periodical  fits  of  ague 
and  he  had  tried  many  remedies  in  vain;  he  had  hung  three 
spiders  about  his  patient's  neck,  he  had  given  him  a  bag  to 

113 


wear  containing  chips  of  the  gallows,  and  he  had  tried  to 
charm  away  the  fever  by  writing 

FEBRA    FUGE 

on  a  piece  of  paper  and  cutting  off  one  letter  each  day  be- 
ginning with  the  last  one.  He,  the  speaker,  would  be  glad 
for  suggestions  as  none  of  the  remedies  had  been  successful. 

Several  Academicians  rose  together  each  desirous  of  mak- 
ing suggestions,  but  the  chairman  recognized  first  Dr.  Maier, 
who  recommended  the  following:  "Take  a  new-laid  egg  one 
hour  before  the  cold  fit  is  expected,  paint  on  the  shell  three 
crosses,  one  in  red  and  two  in  black,  bury  it  at  the  nearest 
cross-road  in  strict  privacy  not  letting  any  one  know  of  the 
procedure."  Doctor  Guarinonius  said  the  remedy  was  un- 
scientific and  he  knew  an  infallible  one,  to  wit:  "Take  two 
handfuls  of  bay-salt,  the  same  quantity  of  fresh  hops  and  a 
quarter  of  a  pound  of  blue  currants  very  diligently  beaten 
into  a  brittle  mass ;  spread  this  without  the  addition  of  any- 
thing moist  upon  linen  and  apply  it  to  the  wrists  of  the 
patient.  This  never  fails  to  expel  the  fever. " 

Doctor  Boethius  de  Boodt  begged  permission  of  his  fellow 
members  to  exhibit  an  abraxas  patterned  after  that  of  the 
heresiarch  Basilides,  being  a  small  figure  carved  in  jasper  re- 
presenting the  Prince  of  the  Eons,  or  the  angels  of  the  three 
hundred  and  sixty-five  heavens;  it  was  intended  for  the  Em- 
peror's use,  being  a  perfect  talisman  against  evil  spirits. 
After  this  had  been  examined,  Dr.  Croll  showed  his  zenexton 
which  protected  the  wearer  from  the  plague,  sorcery,  poison, 
and  malign  astral  influences,  and  described  its  manufacture 
in  two  steps,  the  preparation  of  the  magical  tablets  and  the 
construction  of  the  instrument  with  which  they  are  stamped. 
"Take  about  eighteen  live  toads  and  having  closed  their 
nostrils  dry  them  in  the  sun  very  perfectly  and  powder  them ; 
if  not  well  dried  they  will  have  an  offensive  odor  and  cannot 

114 


be  pulverized;  take  of  this  powder  two  ounces,  of  white 
arsenic  and  orpiment  each  one  half  ounce,  roots  of  Diptanus 
albus  and  Tormentilla  erecta  of  each  three  drachms,  small 
pearls  one  drachm,  red  corals,  pieces  of  oriental  hyacinth  and 
emerald  each  one  half  drachm,  oriental  saffron  two  scruples, 
and  to  impart  fragrance  add  a  few  grains  of  musk  and  amber. 
Pulverize  these  ingredients  fine  and  make  a  paste  out  of  the 
mixture  with  rose-water  and  gum  tragacanth;  this  must  be 
done  when  the  moon  is  in  the  sign  of  Scorpion.  With  the 
instrument  to  be  described  cut  out  tablets  of  this  paste  and 
dry  them,  well,  then  cover  them  with  red  silk  and  hang  them 
about  your  neck  by  a  red  string,  but  do  not  let  them  touch 
your  bare  skin.  The  instrument  referred  to  consists  of  two 
steel  punches  on  the  inner  surface  of  which  are  engraved 
respectively  a  scorpion  and  a  snake,  so  that  the  tablets  when 
stamped  out  shall  have  impressions  of  these  animals. 

Dr.  Guarinonius  testified  to  the  value  of  the  zenexton  and 
described  another  form,  saying  it  was  a  favorite  amulet  of 
the  great  Swiss  physician  to  whom  all  looked  for  inspiration — 
Paracelsus.  ^He  then  related  the  peculiar  case  of  a  Viennese 
nobleman  on  whom  a  Tagliacotian  operation  had  been  per- 
formed. The  eminent  surgeon  Gasparo  Tagliacozzi,  at  Bologna, 
had  demonstrated  that  when  either  the  nose  or  the  ear  were 
cut  off  by  a  quick  stroke  of  a  clean  blade,  as  of  a  sabre,  it 
could  be  made  to  adhere  to  the  stump  if  immediately  replaced 
in  a  perfectly  clean  condition  and  bound  firmly  to  remain 
undisturbed ;  and  it  had  been  found  possible  to  graft  the  skin 
from  one  person  on  to  the  wound  of  another ;  such  operations 
were  often  performed  with  entire  success.  The  Venetian  noble- 
man, who  was  also  a  Colonel  in  the  army,  lost  the  tip  of 
his  nose  in  a  duel  with  swords  and  Tagliacozzi  was  sent  for 
to  use  his  skill;  by  offering  a  large  reward,  a  healthy  Italian, 
a  porter  by  trade,  was  persuaded  to  permit  removal  from 

115 


his  arm  of  sufficient  skin  to  form  a  new  nose  on  the  nobleman's 
face.  The  surgical  operation  succeeded  admirably,  a  new  nose 
of  creditable  appearance  soon  formed  and  the  Colonel  was 
delighted ;  the  porter  also  recovered  and  returned  to  his  home 
in  Italy.  From  time  to  time  the  Colonel's  nose  became  very 
red  and  swollen,  giving  him  the  appearance  of  a  drunkard; 
this  disfigurement  passed  away  and  a  few -months  later  the 
nose  would  again  assume  the  tell-tale  state  in  spite  of  the 
owner's  abstemious  habits.  By  exchanging  letters  with 
Tagliacozzi  the  nobleman  found  that  these  unfortunate  attacks 
coincided  with  periodical  drunken  fits  of  the  porter.  Finally, 
after  enduring  this  inconvenience  about  six  years  the  worst 
came  to  pass ;  the  Viennese  officer  was  attending  a  court  ball 
when  to  his  alarm  the  tip  of  his  nose  grew  colder  and  colder 
and  very  soon  dropped  off  in  a  shriveled  condition.  On 
making  diligent  inquiry  he  ascertained  that  the  porter  had 
died  that  very  evening  at  Bologna.J 

Tycho  Brahe,  who  had  listened  with  great  interest  to 
this  narrative,  smiled  broadly  as  the  speaker  concluded  and 
looked  as  if  he  thought  his  silver  nose  was  preferable  to  a 
Tagliacotian.  Dr.  Guarinonius  then  added  that  Tagliacozzi 
always  claimed  that  his  operation  produced  a  nose  having  a 
more  acute  sense  of  smell  than  the  natural  one;  and  that 
during  his  recent  travels  in  Italy  he  had  seen  at  Bologna  the 
statue  erected  by  the  citizens  to  Tagliacozzi,  in  which  he  was 
represented  holding  a  human  nose  in  his  hand. 

The  meetings  of  the  Rudolphine  Academy  of  Medicine 
were  not  always  so  lively  as  the  one  just  described,  at  some 
there  was  less  diversity  of  topics  and  prosy  speakers  con- 
sumed the  time  without  communicating  any  novelty.  Several 
months  later  an  extraordinary  meeting  was  convened  in  honor 
of  the  renowned  physician  Andreas  Libau,  of  Coburg,  who 
was  passing  through  Prague  on  his  way  to  Vienna,  and  had 

116 


consented  to  read  to  the  Academy  an  essay  on  Aurum  Potabile. 
On  that  occasion  the  assembly  hall  was  crowded  with  mem- 
bers and  their  friends  eager  to  see  and  to  hear  the  dis- 
tinguished speaker;  in  introducing  him  Dr.  Guarinonius  re- 
minded the  Academy  that  Dr.  Libau  never  allowed  his  official 
duties  as  Director  of  the  Gymnasium  at  Coburg  to  interfere 
with  his  scientific  pursuits,  and  that  he  had  recently  published 
a  folio  volume  entitled  "Alchymia"  that  was  destined  to 
immortalize  him  in  the  annals  of  medicine  and  of  chemistry. 
His  earlier  treatises  on  the  " Testing  of  Mineral  Waters"  and 
on  "Assaying  Ores"  are  of  course  well  known,  and  he  now 
honors  the  Academy  by  an  original  essay  on  Potable  Gold. 

Doctor  Libau,  whose  Latinized  name  "Libavius"  is  more 
familiar,  began  the  address  by  remarking  that  gold  is  not 
capable  of  being  destroyed  and  possesses  inestimable  qualities 
that  adapt  it  to  restoring  health  and  prolonging  life,  and 
the  problem  to  which  he  had  given  attention  was  to  discover 
the  best  form  in  which  to  administer  it.  The  authority  of 
a,ntiquity  endorses  gold  for  medicinal  use ;  one  of  the  earliest 
records  being  found  in  the  Holy  Scriptures :  "And  Moses  took 
the  (golden)  calf  which  they  had  made  and  burnt  it  with 
fire,  and  ground  it  to  powder  and  strewed  it  upon  the  water 
and  made  the  children  of  Israel  drink  of  it."  Pliny  in  his 
Natural  History  extols  the  medicinal  virtues  of  gold,  and  re- 
commends its  outward  application  as  a  cure  for  green  wounds 
in  form  of  a  liniment ;  prepared  with  honey,  it  gently  loosens 
the  belly  if  the  navel  be  anointed  therewith ;  if  the  skin  be 
stroked  with  a  gold  ring  warts  will  fall  off.  The  Arabian 
physicians  also  recorded  the  virtues  of  gold  as  a  remedy  for 
diseases;  the  eminent  chemist  Geber  wrote  'Gold  is  a  medicine 
rejoycing  the  heart  and  conserving  the  body  in  youth.' 

The  full  benefit  of  this  metal  as  a  medicine  can,  however, 
be  realized  only  when  in  a  potable,  innocuous  solution,  and 

117 


the  preparation  of  this  "heavenly  viaticum,"  or  "alcho- 
chodon,"  is  of  prime  importance;  it  was  known  as  early  as 
the  thirteenth  century  to  Raymond  Lully  of  Majorca,  as  set 
forth  in  the  following  lines  written  by  Sir  George  Ripley: 

"An  Oyle  is  drawne  owte  in  colour  of  Gold, 

Or  lyke  thereto  out  of  our  fire  Redlead 

Whych  Raymond  sayd  when  he  was  old, 

Much  more  than  Gold  wold  stand  hym  in  stede. 

For  when  he  was  for  age  nygh  dede, 

He  made  thereof  Aurum  Potabile 

Whych  hym  revyvyd  as  men  myght  see." 

In  the  same  century,  Friar  Bacon,  writing  to  his  Holiness 
Pope  Nicholas  IV.,  states  that  an  aged  peasant  found  some 
yellow  liquid  in  a  golden  flask  when  plowing  on  his  farm  in 
Sicily,  and  supposing  it  to  be  dew  he  drank  it  off,  and  was 
immediately  transformed  into  a  hale,  robust  and  highly  ac- 
complished youth.  On  examination  of  the  few  drops  remain- 
ing in  the  flask  the  liquid  was  found  to  be  Aurum  Potabile;  the 
laborer  abandoned  his  agricultural  tasks  and  being  admitted 
to  the  service  of  the  King  of  Sicily  served  him  eighty  years. 

Passing  modern  attempts  to  prepare  this  panacea,  Dr. 
Xabau  said  that  after  testing  in  vain  nearly  one  hundred  re- 
cipes for  the  "food  of  angels,"  he  had  succeeded  in  devising 
a  new  process  that  yielded  most  advantageous  results;  it  is 
as  follows: 

"Put  foliated  gold  into  a  vessel  well-sealed  with  Hermes' 
seal;  put  it  into  our  fire  till  it  be  calcined  to  ashes,  then 
sublime  it  into  /fores,  leaving  the  caput  mortuum,  or  black 
terra  damnata,  in  the  bottom.  Then  let  that  which  is  sublimed 
"be  with  the  same  degree  of  fire  united  to  the  same  caput 
mortuum,  that  all  may  be  reduced  to  an  Oyle  which  is  called 
Oleum  Solis." 

As  thus  obtained  the  dose  for  an  adult  is  two  or  three 
grains.  With  it  a  diaphoretic  powder  can  be  made  that  is  a 

118 


specific  for  intermittent  fever,  the  dose  being  eight  to  twelve 
grains  in  a  glass  of  wine. 

This  condensed  report  of  the  addresses  of  Libavius  con- 
veys no  idea  of  the  elegant,  flowery  diction  in  which  it  was 
clothed,  which,  however,  becomes  evident  in  his  peroration:  — 

"O  mystery  of  mysteries,  most  secret  of  all  secret  things 
and  healing  and  medicine  of  all  things!  Thou  hast  made 
discovery  in  earthly  natures,  last  best  gift  to  Patriarchs  and 
Sages,  greatly  desired  by  the  whole  world!  O  desirable 
knowledge,  lovely  above  all  things  beneath  the  circle  of  the 
moon  by  which  Nature  is  strengthened,  heart  and  limbs  are 
renewed,  blooming  youth  is  preserved,  old  age  driven  away, 
weakness  destroyed,  beauty  in  all  its  perfection  preserved, 
and  abundance  ensured  in  all  things  pleasing  to  men !  O  thou 
wondrous  power,  strengthening  all  the  world,  that  wakest 
the  dead,  expellest  diseases,  restorest  the  voice  of  the  dying ! 
The  Almighty  be  praised  for  having  revealed  this  art  to 
God-fearing  men.  Amen!" 


119 


CHAPTER  XII. 


FORTUNES  AND   MISFORTUNES. 

"Que  la  chimie  est  admirable 
Dans  ses  effets  prodigieux, 
Elle  nous  rend  e*gaux  aux  Dieux 
Par  1'elixir  et  1'or  potable. 

Que  1'art  chimique  est  admirable, 
Que  son  pouvoir  est  merveilleux. 
La  pauvrete"  si  mesprisable, 
L'  infirmite*  la  moins  curable, 

La  veillesse  qui  nous  accable, 
Meme  la  Parque  inexorable, 
Sentent  1'effet  miraculeux 
De  notre  Pierre  incomparable." 

Chilliat,  Les  Souffleurs. 


N  1603,  the  official  alchemists  of  Rudolph's  court 
and  the  residents  of  Gold  Alley  were  much  excited 
by  rumors  of  successful  transmutations  at  Strass- 
burg,  and  when  the  news  reached  the  Emperor, 


who  just   then  was  in  great  need  of  gold  to  replenish  his 
treasury  and  was  always  ready 

"To  seek  by  alkimy  greate  ryches  to  winn," 
he  sent  Johann  Franke  and  two  other  trustworthy  messengers 
to  make  inquiries,  and  to  fetch  to  Prague  this  valuable  adept. 
The  story  they  learned  was  to  this  effect: — An  humble  citizen 
of  Strassburg  named  Gossenhauer  (Giistenhover  in  low 
German)  while  engaged  in  his  trade  as  goldsmith  was  waited 

120 


upon  by  a  stranger  who  applied  for  work  as  a  journey-man 
apprentice.  The  man,  who  gave  the  name  of  Hirschborgen, 
was  employed  for  a  time  and  on  his  departure  gave  Gossen- 
hauer  a  red  powder  with  instructions  for  its  use  in  trans- 
mutation; the  goldsmith  made  a  successful  experiment  with 
a  portion  of  the  powder  and  imprudently  mentioned  his 
treasure  to  some  friends  and  neighbors,  they  in  turn  told 
neighbors  and  friends  that  Gossenhauer  had  secured  the 
Philosophers'  stone,  and  soon  the  news  was  the  gossip  of 
the  whole  city.  The  municipal  authorities  ordered  an  in- 
vestigation, and  the  goldsmith  not  only  made  a  projection 
in  the  presence  of  three  city  councillors,  but  each  of  them 
with  his  own  hands  performed  the  same  feat. 

On  hearing  this  evidence  of  Gossenhauer's  skill  the  Emper- 
or's ambassadors  pursuaded  him  by  the  use  of  handcuffs  and 
chains  to  return  to  Prague ;  on  arrival  he  was  brought  before 
Rudolph  who  commanded  him  to  proceed  at  once  with  the 
manufacture  of  gold.  Meanwhile  the  Strassburger  had  used 
up  all  the  red  powder  and  was  at  his  wits'  end  to  satisfy 
the  imperial  demands ;  he  assured  the  monarch  that  he  had 
no  more  of  the  Philosophers'  stone  and  did  not  know  how 
to  make  it,  but  this  only  irritated  the  Emperor  who  refused 
to  listen  to  the  protestations  of  the  unhappy  goldsmith ;  the 
wretched  man  was  forthwith  imprisoned  in  the  White  Tower, 
and  never  being  able  to  comply  with  his  tyrant's  commands, 
he  was  liberated  from  his  dungeon  only  by  death. 

Rudolph's  jester  and  poet,  De  Delle,  preserved  the  ad- 
ventures and  unhappy  fate  of  Gossenhauer  in  the  following 
immortal  verses:  — 

"Gossenhauer,  von  Offenburg  genannt, 
Dem  Keyser  Rudolpho  wolbekannt, 
Dass  er  in  Alchimia  erfahren  war, 
Ganz  frohlich  war  den  neuen  Mahr. 
121 


Sprach:  'Johann  Franke,  Du  musst  hin, 
Dass  wir  der  Sachen  werden  inn 
Und  erfahren  den  rechten  Grund. 
Warum  saume  Dich  nicht  zur  Stund.  N 
Ein  Gnadenpfennig  mit  Demant  schon 
Sollt  Du  ihm  verehren  thun, 
Und  sagen  ihm  dass  Wir  begehren 
Seine  Kunst  ganzlich  zu  lehren. 
Kan  aber  dass  nit  geschiehn, 
Muss  er  Unser  Gefangener  sin.' 
Er  ist  in  weissen  Thurm  gebracht, 
Kam  aber  weg  in  einer  Nacht. 
Ward  zu  Strassburg  wieder  gefangen. 
Der  Keyser  trug  gross  Yerlangen 
Bis  er  wieder  nach  Prage  kam. 
Musst  im  weissen  Thurme  sitzen 
Und  vor  grosser  Angst  schwitzen. 
Und  das  End  wird  weisen  aus 
Erfahren  wir  aus  des  Keyser's  Haus." 

The  lives  and  experiences  of  alchemists  are  almost  always 
shrouded  in  mystery,  everything  relating  to  them  is  marvelous 
and  magnificent;  the  heroes  of  hermetic  art  are  the  most 
fortunate  of  men  who  create  gold  by  the  ton,  heal  all  manner 
of  diseases  supposed  to  be  incurable  and  attain  in  some  in- 
stances immortal  youth.  But  on  a  closer  examination  their 
careers  appear  by  no  means  so  brilliant;  they  travel  from 
country  to  country,  wandering  from  town  to  town,  and  live 
from  hand  to  mouth,  and  though  they  may  for  a  season  en- 
joy luxurious  living  at  the  expense  of  a  credulous  patron, 
they  are  eventually  detected  in  fraud,  suifer  imprisonment  and 
torture,  and  die  miserable  deaths.  Those  who  chronicle  their 
adventures  seldom  have  a  critical  spirit  and  weave  into  the 
narratives  truth  and  falsehood,  the  authentic  and  the  fabu- 
lous, making  it  difficult  for  a  student  to  distinguish  truth 
from  fiction.  Such  obstacles  are  met  with  in  attempting 
to  portray  the  joint  careers  of  a  Scotch  alchemist  named 
Alexander  Seton  and  of  a  Moravian  named  Michael  Sensophax, 

122 


'W 


commonly  called  Sendivogius  the  Pole,  the  latter  of  whom 
made  a  great  stir  at  the  court  of  Rudolph. 

Seton,  \vhose  antecedents  are  not  known,  appears  to  have 
had  no  other  object  in  life  than  to  travel  through  Europe 
and  to  make  converts  to  alchemy  by  his  astonishing  skill  in 
legerdemain,  or  perhaps  by  superior  knowledge  of  chemistry ; 
not  needing  money  himself  he  was  generous  to  those  who 
befriended  him  or  who  secured  his  good  will,  often  giving 
them  golden  souvenirs  of  his  visits.^  Seton  first  appears  as 
a  resident  of  Seton  Hall  on  the  coast  of  Scotland,  where  he 
treated  with  kindness  a  poor  shipwrecked  mariner,  named 
Haussen,  from  the  Netherlands.  He  then  pays  a  mysterious 
visit  to  Haussen  at  the  latter's  modest  dwelling  near  Amster- 
dam, where  the  sailor  received  him  with  joy  and  entertained 
him  for  several  weeks;  on  his  departure  Seton  showed  his 
host  the  secret  of  transmutation,  converting  in  his  presence 
a  piece  of  lead  into  gold  of  the  same  weight,  and  giving  it 
to  him  as  a  testimony  of  the  verity  of  alchemy ;  this  trans- 
action occured  on  the  13th  March  1602. 

The  following  summer  Seton  converted  two  opponents 
of  alchemy  into  adherents  by  a  clever  performance  at  Basel, 
Switzerland,  viz.:  Dr.  Wolfgang  Dienheim,  Professor  at  the 
University  of  Fribourg,  and  Dr.  Jacob  Zwinger.  The  three 
went  to  the  laboratory  of  a  worker  in  gold,  taking  with 
them  some  sheets  of  lead,  a  crucible,  and  some  sulfur  bought 
by  the  way;  Seton  handled  nothing,  but  built  a  fire  in  the 
furnace,  melted  the  lead  and  sulfur  together  in  the  crucible  and 
stirred  the  mixture  with  iron  rods.  In  a  short  time  Seton 
asked  the  doctors  to  throw  into  the  molten  metal  a  heavy 
yellow  powder  contained  in  a  piece  of  paper.  Dienheim  de- 
scribing the  affair  said:  "Though  as  unbelieving  as  Saint 
Thomas  we  did  as  directed,"  and  after  fifteen  minutes  the 
crucible  was  removed  from  the  fire;  on  cooling  the  lead  had 

123 


disappeared  and  a  button  of  gold  remained  which  the  gold- 
smith pronounced  superior  to  that  of  Hungary  or  of  Arabia. 
It  -weighed  as  much  as  the  lead.  The  two  doctors  were 
amazed,  and  Seton  made  fun  of  them  saying:  "What  has 
become  of  all  your  pedantic  arguments  now  ?  You  behold  an 
experiment  more  convincing  than  your  sophism!'*  The  al- 
chemist then  cut  off  a  piece  of  the  gold  weighing  about  four 
ducats  and  gave  it  to  Zwinger  who  kept  it  as  a  souvenir. 

The  next  appearance  of  Seton  was  at  Strassburg  where 
he  assumed  the  name  of  Hirschborgen  and  took  part  in  the 
events  that  brought  so  much  misery  on  Gossenhauer.  He 
then  took  lodgings  with  a  merchant  named  Koch  at  Offen- 
bach, near  Frankfort,  and  made  a  projection  in  his  presence 
in  a  similar  way ;  Koch  had  a  shirt  stud  made  from  the  arti- 
ficial gold.  At  Cologne  he  accomplished  several  amazing  feats 
of  transmutation ;  at  Munich  where  he  next  appeared,  he  did 
not  work  at  alchemy,  but  fell  in  love  with  a  beautiful  Bavarian 
Fraulein  and  married  her.  Sometime  after  the  Scotchman, 
who  now  assumed  the  name  of  "The  Cosmopolitan,"  became 
involved  with  the  despotic  young  Elector  of  Saxony, 
Christian  II.,  noted  for  his  cruel  disposition,  and  at  his  com- 
mand gave  him  a  small  specimen  of  the  "red  tincture";  this 
did  not  satisfy  the  Prince  who  demanded  the  secret  of  its 
preparation,  which  Seton  obstinately  refused  to  divulge. 
Coaxing  and  threats  being  all  in  vain  Christian  (belying  his 
name)  resorted  to  terrible  tortures,  placing  his  victim  on  the 
rack,  burning  him  with  hot  irons  and  with  melted  lead;  the 
alchemist  resisted  desperately  and  the  Prince,  reflecting  that 
it  was  unwise  to  kill  the  goose  that  laid  golden  eggs,  ceased 
the  torture  and  confined  the  miserable  man  in  a  dark  cell 
guarded  by  brutal  jailors.  Here  he  lingered  in  agony  with 
dislocated  limbs  and  in  mental  distress,  until  a  stranger, 
temporarily  in  Dresden,  became  interested  in  his  sad  plight 

124 


and  by  the  aid  of  judiciously  placed  bribes  and  of  strong 
drink  effected  his  rescue.  This  stranger  was  the  celebrated 
Michael  Sendivogius,  who  had  inherited  property  near  Cracow 
and  was  in  consequence  supposed  to  be  of  Polish  origin; 
being  a  skillful  chemist,  who  had  discovered  an  improvement 
in  dyeing  fabrics,  he  was  also  an  alchemist,  and  in  hopes  of 
extorting  fromSeton  the  secrets  of  his  process  aided  in  effecting 


KINGLY  GOLD  AND  QUEENLY  SILVER. 

his  escape.  The  two  fled  to  Cracow,  but  Seton  survived  only 
a  few  weeks  dying  without  disclosing  his  well-guarded  secret. 
Throughout  his  life  he  had  observed  the  injunction  of  Chaucer: 

"Make  privy  to  your  dealing  as  few  as  you  maie, 
For  three  may  keepe  councell  if  twain  be  awaie." 

Not  long  after  these  events  Sendivogius  married  Set  on 's 
widow,  with  the  object  of  penetrating  the  mysteries  in  which 
she  had  presumably  shared,  but  she  was  only  able  to  give 
him  the  small  remainder  of  the  invaluable  powder  and  a 

125 


manuscript  essay  on  alchemy  written  by  her  husband,  entitled 
"Twelve  Treatises  of  the  Cosmopolitan."  The  wily  Pole  now 
set  out  on  his  travels  and  by  husbanding  carefully  the  powder 
which  he  knew  not  to  manufacture,  he  made  several  trans- 
mutations in  public  at  different  cities  and  acquired  great 
renown.  All  the  crowned  heads  of  central  Europe  were  im- 
patient to  receive  a  visit  from  him,  and  Rudolph  was  among 
the  first  to  be  honored.  Sendivogius  presented  the  monarch 
\vith  a  small  quantity  of  the  powder  and  he  performed  the 
miracle  of  transmutation  with  his  own  hands ;  delighted  with 
his  success  he  caused  to  be  placed  on  the  wall  of  the  room 
in  -which  the  projection  was  made  a  marble  tablet  with  the 
inscription : 

"Faciat  hoc  quispiam  alius 
Quod  fecit  Sendivogius  Polonus!" 
"Who'er  could  do  under  the  rolling  sun 
What  Sendivogius  the  Pole  hath  done!" 

This  Tabula  marmorea  Pragensis  was  still  to  be  seen  in 
position  as  late  as  1740.  Sendivogius  was  given  the  title  of 
Counsellor  of  State  and  honored  with  a  gold  medal  of  the 
Emperor,  -while  the  court  poet  Mardochaeus  de  Delle  cele- 
brated the  event  in  Latin  verses;  poor  Seton,  however,  got 
no  credit  for  his  share  in  the  performance. 

Sendivogius'  reputation  as  a  possessor  of  the  Philosophers r 
stone  placed  him  in  great  danger,  but  Rudolph  treated  him 
courteously  though  he  still  kept  Gossenhauer  confined  in  the 
White  Tower;  both  these  men  had  worked  with  the  same 
powder,  but  it  brought  to  one  misery  and  to  the  other  honor. 
Being  permitted  to  leave  Prague,  Sendivogius  started  for 
Cracow,  but  on  the  journey  he  was  seized  by  a  Moravian 
Count  and  imprisoned,  the  secret  of  transmutation  being  the 
price  of  his  liberty.  He  secured  a  file,  however,  sawed  the 
window  bars  in  two  and  by  tearing  up  his  outer  clothing 

126 


made  a  rope  with  which  he  escaped.  Once  in  safety  the  al- 
chemist appealed  to  the  Emperor,  who  confiscated  an  estate 
of  the  Moravian  and  bestowed  it  upon  the  Pole;  on  this 
property,  "Gavarna,"  near  the  borders  of  Silesia,  Sendivogius 
resided  many  years  excercising  a  princely  hospitality.  In 
memoirs,  written  by  his  steward  Bodowski,  he  relates  that 
Sendivogius  kept  his  philosophic  powder  in  a  little  box  of 
gold,  and  when  on  a  journey  hung  the  precious  box  on  his 
neck  by  a  golden  chain;  but  the  greater  part  of  the  powder 
was  concealed  in  a  hole  cut  in  the  step  of  his  carriage. 
When  travelling  through  a  region  infested  by  robbers  Sendi- 
vogius would  exchange  clothes  with  his  valet  and  take  a  seat 
on  the  box  by  the  driver,  putting  his  valet  inside.  In  Warsaw 
he  met  with  great  success  in  duping  Sigismond  the  King  of 
Poland;  at  Stuttgart,  however,  he  had  a  misadventure 
brought  about  through  the  jealousy  of  a  rival  alchemist, 
Johann  Heinrich  Muller.  Miiller  began  his  life  as  a  barber's 
apprentice  and  learned  the  secrets  and  tricks  of  professional 
alchemists  from  Daniel  Rappolt  when  acting  as  his  valet. 
Thus  equipped  he  presented  himself  at  the  court  of  Rudolph 
and  aroused  great  admiration  by  an  ingenious  stratagem; 
he  announced  himself  as  bullet-proof,  and  allowed  others  to 
shoot  at  him  with  bullets  made  of  a  soft  lead-amalgam  which 
flattened  out  on  striking  his  coat  of  mail.  In  the  dwelling 
of  Johann  Franke  he  made  fine  gold,  or  rather  he  got  it  into 
the  crucible  by  sleight  of  hand ;  the  Emperor  was  captivated 
with  his  amusing  ways  and  gave  him  the  title  of  " Lord  von 
Miillenfels."  Being  now  experienced  in  duplicity  and  passing 
for  a  nobleman,  the  knave  entered  the  service  of  Frederick, 
Duke  of  Wurttemberg ;  the  arrival  of  Sendivogius  in  Stuttgart, 
and  the  reputation  he  secured  by  two  successful  projections 
filled  Miillenfels  with  envy,  and  alarm  lest  he  should  be  dis- 
placed, so  he  planned  to  ruin  his  rival.  As  soon  as  Sendi- 

127 


vogius  started  on  his  journey  northward,  Miillenfels  pursued 
him  with  armed  horsemen,  arrested  him  in  the  name  of  the 
Duke,  stripped  him  of  his  clothing,  bound  him  naked  to  a 
tree  and  robbed  him  of  his  golden  box  containing  the  Philo- 
sophers' stone  as  well  as  of  Seton's  precious  manuscript,  a 
diamond-studded  cap  valued  at  One  hundred  thousand  rix- 
dollars,  and  the  golden  medal  given  him  by  the  Emperor 
Rudolph.  The  unfortunate  man  was  released  by  passing 
travellers  and  as  soon  as  possible  he  made  a  formal  complaint 
to  the  Emperor,  who  demanded  of  Frederick  the  person  of 
Miillenfels  and  his  booty.  The  Duke  was  alarmed  and  hanged 
his  alchemist  on  high  gallows  erected  in  the  court-yard  of  the 
palace;  he  also  restored  the  valuable  cap,  the  manuscript 
and  the  medal,  but  denied  all  knowledge  of  the  "tincture." 
These  events  occurred  in  1607. 

Sendi vogius,  being  now  deprived  of  the  material  with 
which  he  had  so  long  duped  the  wealthy  patrons  of  alchemy, 
became  a  low,  roving  charlatan,  selling  a  pretended  cure-all 
to  the  country  folk,  and  imitation  silver  to  the  Jews,  through- 
out Poland  and  Germany.  He  escaped  his  deserts,  however, 
and  died  a  natural  death  at  the  good  old  age  of  eighty,  at 
Cracow  in  1646.  Several  hermetic  treatises  attributed  to  the 
Cosmopolitan  and  edited  by  Sendivogius  were  printed  early 
in  the  seventeenth  century  in  Latin,  German  and  French. 

The  vanity  of  alchemy  has  been  strongly  pictured  in  verse 
by  Spenser:  — 

"To  lose  good  days  that  might  be  better  spent, 
To  waste  long  nights  in  pensive  discontent; 
To  spend  to-day,  to  put  back  to-morrow; 
To  feed  on  hope,  to  pine  with  fear  and  sorrow ; 
To  fret  his  soul  with  crosses  and  with  cares, 
To  eat  his  heart  through  comfortless  despairs ; 
Unhappy  wight!  born  to  disastrous  end, 
That  did  his  life  in  tedious  tendance  spend." 

128 


MICHAEL   SENDIVOGIUS. 


It  is  evident  from  the  events  recorded  in  this  and  in  pre- 
ceding chapters  that  in  the  time  of  Rudolph's  reign  belief  in 

"The  subtill  Science  of  Holy  Alkimy" 

was  practically  universal  among  all  classes  of  people,  and  it 
is  a  fact  that  in  the  sixteenth  century  few  persons  were 
courageous  enough  to  oppose  the  highly  respectable  super- 
stition. At  rare  intervals  enlightened  men  of  advanced  views 
made  conscientious  attacks  on  the  fallacious  theories  and  ex- 
posed the  bold  impostures  by  which  the  promoters  sustained 
the  claims  of  the  pseudo-science,  but  they  were  regarded  as 
pessimistic  croakers,  or  were  entirely  unheeded.  Had  the 
English  poet  Chaucer  been  more  widely  read,  his  "Canon 
Yeoman's  Tale"  might  have  opened  the  eyes  of  thinking  men,, 
but  he  was  in  advance  of  his  times. 

"'Graunt  mercy',  quod  the  preest,  and  was  ful  glad, 

And  couched  coles  as  the  chanoun  bad 

And  whyle  he  bisy  was,  this  feendly  wrecche, 

This  fals  chanoun,  the  foule  feend  him  fecche! 

Out  of  his  bosom  took  a  bechen  cole, 

In  which  ful  subtilly  was  maad  an  hole, 

And  ther-in  put  was  of  siluer  lymaille 

An  ounce,  and  stopped  was,  with-outen  fayle, 

The  hole  with  wex,  to  kepe  the  lymaille  in. 

And  understondeth  that  this  false  gin 

Was  nat  maad  ther,  but  it  was  maad  bifore." 

*  *       *       * 

"And  whyles  that  the  preest  wyped  his  face 
^  This  chanoun  took  his  cole  with  harde  grace, 
And  leyde  it  up  aboue,  on  the  midward 
Of  the  crosslet,  and  blew  wel  afterward, 
Till  that  the  coles  gonne  faste  brenne." 

*  *       »       * 

.  .  .  "He  took  out  of  his  owen  sleue 
A  teyne  of  siluer  (yuel  moot  he  cheue!)" 


129 


...  "In  his  honde  he  bar 
An  holwe  stikke  (tak  keep  and  be  war!), 
In  thende  of  which  an  ounce,  and  namore 
Was  in  his  cole,  and  stopped  with  wex  wel 
For  to  kepe  in  his  lymaille  every  del. 
And  whyl  this  preest  was  in  his  bisinesse, 
This,  chanoun  with  his  stikke  gan  him  dresse 
To  him  anon,  and  his  pouder  caste  in 
As  he  did  er." 

In  the  sixteenth  century  there  was  a  division  of  opinion 
among  the  men  of  learning;  Melanchthon,  for  example,  wrote 
of  alchemy  as  a  work  of  imposture  and  fraud,  while  Martin 
Luther  in  his  "Canonica"  said:  "The  art  of  alchemy  is  a  true 
and  genuine  philosophy  of  ancient  sages,  and  pleases  me  very 
well  not  only  on  account  of  its  virtue  and  great  usefulness 
shown  in  the  distillation  and  sublimation  of  metals,  herbs, 
waters,  and  oils,  but  also  on  account  of  its  admirable  and 
beautiful  analogy  to  the  resurrection  of  the  dead  at  the  day 
of  judgement."  The  only  serious  attempt  made  in  the  six- 
teenth century  to  break  down  the  structure  erected  by  the 
chemists,  was  the  publication  in  1572  of  a  work  by  Thomas 
Lieber,  better  known  by  his  pen-name  Erastus,  Professor  of 
medicine  in  Basle.*  His  main  attack  was  on  the  absurd 
medical  doctrines  of  Paracelsus,  but  he  also  exposed  the 
worthlessness  of  the  theories  of  alchemy  and  the  charlatanism 
of  its  practitioners  by  citing  instances  of  notorious  frauds. 
Neither  earnest  opposition  nor  ridicule  as  expressed  in 
facetious  epigrams  and  verses  disturbed  the  status  of  alchemy ; 
the  verses  of  the  Jesuit  Grethser  of  Ingolstadt  are  good  ex- 
amples of  one  form  of  attack :  — 

"Alchemia  est  scientia  sine  arte 

Cujus  principium  est  pars  cum  parte, 

Medium  strenue  mentiri, 

Finis  mendicatum  ire 

Vel  in  cruce  corvos  nutrire, 

Quod  Paracelsicis  solet  evenire." 

*  Explicatio   quaestionis  famosae  illius,    ut   utrum  ex   metallis  ignobilis   aurutn 
verum  et  naturale  arte  conflari  possit.     Basiliae,  1572,  4to. 

130 


Those  who  ventured  to  raise  their  voices  and  exert  their 
influence  against  alchemy  were  sometimes  converted  to  its 
support  by  ingenious  stratagems ;  how  this  was  accomplished 
in  the  case  of  the  two  learned  Professors  at  Basle  has  just 
been  shown;  another  Professor,  Cornelius  Martini,  who  held 
the  chair  of  Philosophy  at  Helmstadt,  was  accustomed  in 
lecturing  to  students  to  denounce  alchemy  as  a  vain  specu- 
lation, and  he  too  was  won  over  by  a  master  stroke.  As  he 
was  holding  forth  on  the  impossibility  of  transmutation,  a 
stranger  entered  the  class-room  and  politely  begged  permission 
to  argue  the  matter  by  a  practical  demonstration;  he  asked 
for  a  piece  of  lead,  a  crucible,  and  the  usual  melting  furnace ; 
these  were  obligingly  placed  at  his  disposal  and  he  soon  pro- 
duced a  small  ingot  of  gold  in  the  crucible,  and  handed  it 
over  to  Professor  Martini  with  these  words:  —  "Solve  tnihi 
hunc  syllogismum!" 


131 


CHAPTER  XIII. 
THE  SECRET  SYMBOLS   OF   PONTANUS'  LETTER. 

When  fire  and  water,  earth  and  air 

In  love's  true  bond  united  are, 

For  all  diseases  then  be  sure 

You  have  a  safe  and  certain  cure. 

I  will  affirm  it's  here  alone 

Exists  the  Philosophic  Stone. 

This  is  fair  Nature's  virgin  root, 

Thrice  blest  are  they  who  reap  the  fruit: 

But  oh!  where  one  true  adept  's  found, 

Ten  thousand  thousand  cheats  abound. 

[E  IMPERIAL  laboratory  on  the  Hradschin  occu- 
pied two  communicating  rooms  on  the  ground 
floor  of  an  old  stone  building  only  one  story  in 
height  and  formerly  used  for  housing  the  royal 
coaches ;  the  rudely  paved,  uneven  floor  remained  as  of  yore, 
but  on  one  side  of  the  larger  rooni  had  been  built  several 
flues  into  which  brick  furnaces  discharged  their  smoke  and 
soot.  These  furnaces,  great  and  small,  were  devoted  to 
diverse  uses ;  one  was  constructed  for  smelting  ores  and  the 
more  refractory  metals,  another  furnished  the  moderate  heat 
required  for  a  huge  water-bath,  and  a  third  was  arranged 
for  the  distillation  of  volatile  liquids.  This  fuMaee supported 
a  cucurbit  capped  by  five  helms,  one  placed  above  another, 
their  long  necks  terminating  in  recipients  for  collecting  the 
distillates,  the  more  volatile  going  to  the  uppermost.  Shelves 

132 


hanging  against  the  walls  held  cucurbits,  alembics,  descen- 
sories,  Hippocrates'  sleeves,  mirrors  for  reflecting  the  sun's 
rays  in  distillations,  and  a  variety  of  small  phials,  covered 
gallipots,  and  porcelain  jars  containing  chemicals,  solid  and 
liquid. 

The  floor  was  strewn  with  mortars  of  many  shapes  and 
sizes  some  without  their  pestles,  with  fire  shovels,  tongs  and 


pokers,  wood  for  kindling  and  clumsy  axes  for  chopping  the 
same,  and  in  a  corner  removed  from  the  dust  of  furnaces, 
near  a  window,  lay  several  ponderous  folios  and  smaller  books 
besides  manuscripts  of  hermetic  lore,  in  some  of  which  the 
crude  drawings  had  been  colored  to  make  them  more  at- 
tractive. On  wooden  pins,  driven  into  crevices  of  the  stone 
walls  at  convenient  spots,  hung  utensils  identical  in  shape 


133 


with  those  used  in  culinary  operations,  but  the  fragments  of 
red  saffron  of  Mars,  blue  vitriol,  and  verdigris,  together 
with  patches  of  brown  lutes,  gave  them. an  aspect  far  from 
appetizing. 

The  centre  of  the  smaller  room  was  almost  filled  with  an 
apparatus  conspicuous  from  its  great  size  and  eccentric  shape; 
it  consisted  of  a  hollow,  metal  pipe  nearly  nine  feet  high  pierc- 
ed with  ten  round  holes  through  which  passed  the  lengthened 
glass  necks  of  alembics  below  and  the  shorter  necks  of  re- 
ceptacles above,  the  latter  supported  on  brackets  fixed  to  the 
wall.  The  necks  of  the  two  alembics,  connected  with  cucurbits 
resting  on  furnaces,  were  bent  into  S-shaped  curves  so  that 
they  entered  the  central  pipe  at  each  of  the  five  openings; 
water  poured  in  at  the  top  of  the  pipe  was  drawn  off  by  a 
spigot  near  the  base.  This  imposing  apparatus  for  distilling 
brandy  had  been  made  after  a  pattern  devised  many  years 
before  by  Brunswick,  but  at  the  time  of  which  we  write 
was  no  longer  in  use  having  been  abandoned  for  simpler 
contrivances. 

Suspended  from  the  smoke  begrimed  rafters  was  a  stuffed 
crocodile  and  a  rare  bird  of  Asiatic  origin,  whose  brilliant 
plumage  was  now  entirely  concealed  by  the  dust  and  dirt 
of  years  of  neglect. 

In  the  long  corridor  leading  into  these  rooms  lay  piles 
of  charcoal,  earthenware  crucibles,  boxes  of  materials  for  fire- 
resisting  lutes,  and  coarser  chemical  substances,  together  with 
utensils  of  iron,  copper  and  brass,  most  of  them  in  sad  need 
of  scouring.  Throughout  an  air  of  disorder  and  carelessness 
prevailed ;  the  murky  atmosphere  was  scarcely  pierced  by  the 
sunbeams  admitted  through  the  windows  cut  at  irregular 
elevations  opposite  the  furnaces.  Of  furniture  properly  speak- 
ing there  was  very  little;  a  few  stools,  one  chair  of  comfort- 
able aspect  in  front  of  a  still,  and  a  massive  table  of  rude 

134 


construction,  on  which  lay  a  sandglass,  sieves,  knives,  scissors, 
and  so  littered  with  broken  funnels,  scraps  of  paper,  fragments 
of  alembics  and  earthen  jars,  as  to  prevent  a  legitimate  use 
of  the  table. 

Near  the  door  of  the  corridor  leading  without  stood  two 
covered  barrels  of  water.  Along  the  side  was  a  series  of  low 
steps  on  each  of  which  was  a  cucurbit,  or  bowl,  arranged 


AN  ALCHEMIST'S  LABORATORY. 
Tenicrs. 

so  as  to  make  a  self-filtering  battery  of  ancient  style ;  a.  wad 
of  lampwick  hung  in  each  vessel  like  a  siphon  through  which 
the  liquid  trickled  slowly. 

Several  alchemists  and  physicians,  assisted  in  manual 
drudgery  by  their  servants,  were  at  work  in  this  laboratory. 
Dr.  Leonhard  von  Erbach  was  distilling  from  glass  a  quan- 
tity of  dew  that  he  had  collected  at  early  dawn  when  the 
Moon  was  in  Sagittarius;  after  twenty-nine  distillations  it 
would  furnish  the  physician  with  a  precious  panacea  for 

135 


divers  maladies,  and  would  be  prescribed  to  patients  able  to 
pay  in  golden  ducats.  Two  apprentices  were  occupied  in 
chopping  bark  from  a  small  tree-trunk  and  in  pulverizing  the 
elastic  woody  fibre ;  another  was  preparing  a  furnace  for  the 
preparation  of  Crocus  Veneris  which  required  varying  degrees 
of  heat.  Apart  from  observation  von  Hirschberg  was  com- 
pounding a  philtre  having  aphrodisiac  powers,  destined  to 
fetch  a  golden  harvest  from  a  credulous  lady  of  the  Emperor's 
household. 

Seated  on  a  stool  near  a  window  Dr.  Michael  Maier  was 
intently  examining  a  manuscript  containing  numerous  secret 
symbols,  the  exact  meaning  of  which  he  was  writing  between 
the  lines.  The  few  leaves  of  this  modern  manuscript  consti- 
tuted a  short  epistle  addressed  to  Emperor  Rudolph  by  Dr. 
Johann  Bruckner,  Professor  of  Medicine  at  Konigsberg,  and 
referred  by  his  Majesty  to  Dr.  Maier  for  interpretation. 
Rudolph  lacked  esoteric  knowledge  of  the  hermetic  characters 
and  believing  it  to  contain  the  secret  of  the  Philosophers' 
Stone  he  had  commanded  his  learned  Secretary  to  decipher  it ; 
this  Maier  finally  completed  and  the  document  sent  to  Rudolph 
greatly  pleased  him. 

The  letter  from  Bruckner,  or  Pontanus,  as  he  generally 
called  himself,  was  in  part  as  follows;  Maier's  explanations 
are  also  given. 

"TO  MY  most  gracious  and  exalted  Master,  the  most 
Potent  Lord  of  the  Holy  Roman  Empire,  King  of  Hungary 
and  Bohemia,  RUDOLPHUS  II.,  greeting.  I,  John  Pontanus, 
have  travelled  through  many  countries  that  I  might  know 
the  certainty  of  the  Philosophers'  Stone;  and  passing  through 
the  universe  I  found  many  deceivers,  but  no  true  Philosophers, 
which  put  me  on  incessant  studying,  and  making  many 
doubts,  till  at  length  I  found  out  the  truth.  But  when  I  had 

136 


attained  the  knowledge  of  the  matter  in  general  yet  I  erred 
at  least  two  hundred  times  before  I  could  attain  to  know 
the  singular  thing  itself,  with  the  work  and  the  practice 
thereof. 

•*\T*  /"N/v 

First,  I  began  with  .,   of  the    QjQ(^  which  I  con- 

putrefaction  matter 

tinued  for  9      I  I  ,  together  and  obtained  nothing.    I  then  for 

months 

some  certain  time  proved  a       /  /")       »  but  in  vain.  After  that 

balneum  Marias 

I  used  a  /  \  of       \j       for  3      I  I  t  space  and  still  found 

fire  calcination  months 


myself  out  of  the  way.    I  essayed  all  sorts  of  ^  and 

/V/  distillations 

and    /  /V>    as  the      ^^       Geber,  Archelaus,  and  all  the 

sublimations  philosophers 

rest  of  them  have  prescribed,  and  yet  found  nothing.    In  sum 
I  attempted   to   perfect  the  whole  work  of  alchemy  by  all 


imaginable  and  likely  means,   as  by 


•  •  •  •         /Jy 


horse-dung          ashes  baths 

and  other  heats  of  divers  kinds  all  of  which  are  found  in  the 


books  of     K  yet  without  any  success.    I  yet  continually 

philosophers 

for  3       8       together  studied  the   books    of      f^     ,  that 

years  philosophers 

chiefly  in  Hermes  whose  concise  words  comprehend  the  sum 
of  the  whole  matter,  viz.  the  secret  of  the  Philosophers*  Stone, 
by  an  obscure  way  of  speaking,  of  what  is  superior,  and 
what  is  inferior,  to  wit,  of  heaven  and  earth.  Therefore  our 

137 


operation    which  brings  the    QjQ,   into    being   in    the   first, 

matter  T — >. 

second  and  third  work,  is  not  the  heat  of  a    / jj  nor  of 

•  •  •   *  bath 

LJLJ    nor  of  *  '**     nor  of  the  other  y\  which      ^""^ 

\ 

horse-dung  ashes  fire  philosophers 

excogitate  in  their  books.  Shall  I  demand  then  what  is  it 
that  perfects  the  work,  since  the  wise  men  have  thus  con- 
cealed it?  Truly,  being  moved  with  a  generous  spirit,  I  will 
declare  it,  with  the  complement  of  the  whole  work. 

The  Lapis  Philosophorunij  therefore,  is  but  one  though 
'it  has  many  names,  which  before  you  conceive  them  will  be 

very  difficult.     For  it  is  of  \/    /\    /\    \/  it  is  (37 

water,        air,          fire,        earth;  salt, 

and  phlegm;  it  is  sulfurous,  yet  is  argent  vive; 

sulfur,      mercury 

it  has  many  superfluities  which  are  turned  into  the  true 
essence  by  the  help  of  our  fire.  He  which  separates  anything 
from  the  subject  or  matter,  thinking  it  to  be  necessary, 
wholly  errs  in  his  philosophy.  That  which  is  superfluous, 
unclean,  filthy,  feculent,  and  in  a  word,  the  whole  substance 
of  the  subject  is  transmuted  or  changed  into  a  perfect,  fixed 
and  spiritual  body,  by  the  help  of  our  fire  which  the  wise 
men  never  revealed. 


Now  the  practical  part  is  this  :    let  the  ^  be  taken 


matter 


and  diligently  ^  with  the  contrition  of         "         ,  put  it 

ground  philosophers 

upon  the     /\    with  such  a  n  that  it  only  excite  or 


fire  degree  of  heat 

138 


stir  up  the  <f/QjQi^^  an(*  *n  a  snort  time  that  /  \ 


without 


fire 


any  laying  on  of  hands  will      \^/     the  whole  work  because 

complete 

it  putrefies,  corrupts,  generates,  and  perfects,  and  makes  the 
three  principal  colors,  viz.,  the  black,  white  and  red  to  ap- 
pear. And  by  the  means  of  this  our  fire  the  medicine  will  be 
multiplied  !by  addition  of  the  crude  matter  not  only  in  quan- 
tity but  also  in  quality  or  virtue.  Therefore,  seek  out  this 
fire  with  all  thy  industry,  for  having  once  found  it  thou  shalt 
accomplish  thy  desire,  because  it  performs  the  whole  work, 


and  is  the  true  key  of  all  the         ""  which  they  never  yet 

philosophers 

revealed.     Consider  well  of  what  I  have  spoken  concerning 

the  properties  of  this   /  \,  and  thou  must  know  it,   other- 

fire 
wise  it  will  be  hid  from  thine  eyes. 

Being  moved  with  generosity  I  have  written  you  these 

things,  but  that  I  might  speak  plainly,  this  /  \is  not  trans- 

fire 
muted  with  the    Qnn£  because  it  is  nothing  of  the  matter, 

matter 

as  I  have  before  declared.  And  these  things  I  thought  fit  to 
speak  as  a  warning  to  the  proudest  sons  of  art  that  they 
spend  not  their  money  unprofitably,  but  may  know  what 
they  ought  to  look  after;  for  by  this  only  they  may  attain 
to  the  perfection  of  this  secret,  and  by.no  other  means. 

Farewell. 

Before  transmitting  this  letter  with  the  interlineations  to 
the  Emperor,  Maier  added  a  note  on  the  general  subject  of 
secret  characters;  he  stated  that  "the  well  known  symbols 

139 


for  the  seven  metals  were  naturally  those  of  the  planets 
associated  with  them;  the  universal  primordial  elements, 
earth,  water,  air  and  fire,  are  designated  by  signs  so  well 
known  that  secrecy  is  no  longer  a  feature  of  their  use.  Their 
antiquity  is  very  great  for  they  are  found  sculptured  with 
slight  modifications  on  Hindoo  monuments  in  China  of  un- 
known age." 

AIR. 

TIRE., 
WATER. 

EARTH. 


"  Secrecy  is  sometimes  secured  by  using  entirely  dissimilar 
characters  for  one  article,  or  one  operation,  as  a  crucible  for 
example ;  still  more  perplexing  is  the  use  of  a  single  character 
for  several  unrelated  objects.  The  arbitrary  nature  of  these 
symbols  has  necessitated  keys  explaining  them;  of  those  in 
print  one  of  the  clearest  is  appended  to  Heinrich  Eschen- 
reuter's  Treatises.  These  were  discovered  on  the  6th  of  May 
1403  in  the  walls  of  the  cloister  connected  with  the  Church 
at  Schwartzbach  by  an  adept  in  alchemy  who  again  hid  them 
in  the  Cloister  Marienzell,  Thuringia.  There  they  were  re- 
discovered 10th  October  1489.  The  best  modern  editions 
contain  a  key  to  the  numerous  characters  found  therein;  the 
key  is  doubtless  in  the  possession  of  the  imperial  Librarian, 
nevertheless,  I,  Heinrich  Maier,  transmit  a  copy,  by  means 
of  which  all  inscrutable  mysteries  may  be  revealed  and 
problems  solved." 

A  portion  of  this  key  is  here  reproduced ;  in  the  original 
the  defining  words  were  in  Latin  and  spelled  backwards  the 
greater  to  mystify  the  uninitiated. 

140 


To  Distil.        Aqua  Fortis.        Aqua  Regalis.      A  Brick.        To  Calcine. 


V?  —  >C/) 


Camphire.       .  Ashes.  Cerusse. 


Quicklime.  Cinnabar.  Wax.  Hartshorn. 

655   *  CC 


A  Crucible.  Crystal.  A  Gum. 


Oil.  Steel  Filings.         Litharge. 


4%  B 


To  Lute.    Sublimated  Mercury.      Precipitated  Mercury.  Nitre. 


(D 


Realgar.  Sand.  Soap. 


KEY  TO  SYMBOLS. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 


A  TRAGEDY  IN  THE  ROYAL  MEWS. 

"In  my  shop  of  drugs  are  stored 
Many  things  of  sweet  accord ; 
Spices  with  sugar  I  combine, 
Enemas  and  purges  I  divine. 
To  strengthen  the  weak  and  the  sickly, 
Refreshing  draughts  I  furnish  quickly; 
All  these  with  utmost  care, 
On  prescriptions,  I  prepare." 

Hans  Sachs. 

IN  A  sultry  evening  in  midsummer  a  group  of  peas- 
ants were  busy  weeding  the  plants  and  trimming 
the  shrubs  in  the  stiffly  designed  pleasure  garden 
of  the  Emperor,  that  formed  such  an  agreeable 
feature  of  the  low  ground  bordering  the  north  side  of  the 
Hradschin.  Directing  their  labors  with  taste  and  skill  was 
a  fair-haired,  comely  young  man  of  attractive  presence,  whose 
intellectual  physiognomy  stamped  him  as  a  man  superior  to 
those  working  with  spade  and  pruning-knife.  In  the  admir- 
able disposition  of  the  blooming  plants  and  in  the  grouping 
of  the  small  trees,  the  young  florist  showed  the  taste  of  a 
landscape  artist ;  and  his  close  inspection  of  the  parts  of  a 
rare  blossom  that  he  picked  off  the  ground  from  beneath  a 
foreign-looking  plant,  showed  that  he  had  acquired  the  scien- 
tific method  of  looking  at  flowers  characteristic  of  a  botanist. 
He  separated  the  leaf-shaped,  brightly  colored  parts  of  the 

143 


flower,  examined  the  central  axis  and  the  delicate  filamentous 
stalks  surrounding  it,  noting  the  minutest  details  with  the 
aid  of  a  bean-shaped  piece  of  glass ;  as  he  threw  down  the 
fragments  of  the  flower  one  by  one,  he  was  watched  by  one 
of  the  older  peasants  who  sighed  and  drew  his  hand  across 
his  low  forehead  with  a  significant  gesture  to  indicate  to  his 
fellow-workmen  that  their  superintendent  was  mentally  un- 
balanced. 

The  sun  was  getting  low  and  the  young  man  dismissed 
the  gardeners,  and  turned  his  steps  down  the  hill  towards 
the  river;  passing  near  the  animal  cages  the  savage  beasts 
showed  by  their  antics  that  they  regarded  the  florist  as  a 
friend,  Ottakar,  Rudolph's  pet  lion,  uttering  a  gentle  growl 
of  greeting.  Following  the  winding  path  to  the  riverside, 
Jacob  Horcicky,  for  that  was  the  name  of  the  embryo  bot- 
anist, crossed  the  dwindling  Moldau  on  the  old  stone  bridge 
built  by  Karl  IV;  here  he  was  overtaken  by  a  trim  young 
army  officer,  whose  costume  and  decorations  proclaimed  him 
a  lieutenant  of  cavalry,  and  who  shortened  his  stride  to 
accost  Jacob  in  a  cordial,  almost  affectionate  manner  that 
met  a  like  response.  Together  they  threaded  the  ill-paved, 
narrow  streets  of  Old  Prague;  the  Officer  talked  about  the 
splendid  horses  in  the  royal  stables  where  he  was  on  duty 
and  called  them  by  endearing  names;  Jacob  chatted  about 
domestic  affairs  and  both  made  frequent  mention  of  a  certain 
lovely  Fraulein  Sofie  whose  capricious  ways  seemed  to  dis- 
tress the  Lieutenant. 

Skirting  the  ancient  Jew's  cemetery,  the  two  friends 
reached  Gypsy  Street  and  soon  entered  the  archway  of  a 
well-kept  double  house;  on  the  right  hand  side  of  the  passage 
was  a  door  over  which  a  sign  "The  City  Pharmacy"  indi- 
cated the  nature  of  the  business  conducted  within ;  alongside 
of  the  door  a  window  having  a  sill  breast-high  and  extra 

144 


broad  permitted  would-be  customers  to  communicate  with 
the  apothecary  without  entering  the  shop.  Glancing  through 
this  window,  Jacob  pushed  to  one  side  the  sliding  sash, 
greeted  filially  the  elder  of  the  occupants,  and  then  taking 
the  Lieutenant's  arm  the  two  entered  the  living  rooms  on 
the  opposite  side  of  the  passage. 

Almost  at  the  same  moment  there  emerged  from  the  shop 
one  of  the  apprentices  whose  dark  eyes  and  regular  features 
betrayed  his  Italian  parentage;  limping  slightly  he  went 
through  the  passage  towards  the  laboratory  in  the  court- 
yard, and  noticing  a  silver  spur  with  a  broken  buckle  on  the 
pavement,  he  furtively  picked  it  up  and  concealed  it  on  his 
person ;  as  soon  as  he  reached  the  laboratory  he  drew  forth 
the  spur  and  noted  with  a  grim  smile  that  the  letter  "S'r 
was  engraved  on  it;  looking  towards  the  family  apartments 
with  a  hideous  leer  of  jealous  anger  that  entirely  transformed 
his  handsome  face,  he  murmured  under  his  breath  two 
words "Sofie",  and  "vendetta" ! 

The  pharmacy  of  Christian  Horcicky  was  the  best  ap- 
pointed in  the  Capital  of  Bohemia  and  was  noted  for  the 
purity  of  its  medicines  as  well  as  for  the  accuracy  with 
which  the  most  complex  prescriptions  were  compounded. 
Persons  entering  the  front  shop  saw  against  the  walls  on 
two  sides  a  double  row  ,of  drawers,  some  shallow  and  some 
deeper,  above  which  ran  wooden  counters  and  shelving  reach- 
ing nearly  to  the  ceiling;  on  the  stone  floor  stood  heavy 
tables,  a  mortar  mounted  on  a  pedestal  made  of  a  tree  trunk, 
and  some  stools ;  across  one  end,  under  the  window  opening 
into  the  street,  ran  a  counter  on  which  the  work  of  mixing 
powders,  rolling  pills,  making  salves,  and  compounding  the 
simpler  prescriptions  was  performed.  Above  the  counter, 
hanging  within  convenient  reach,  were  two  pair  of  scales; 
alongside  of  the  window  was  a  hanging  shelf  carrying  meas- 

145 


tiring  jars,  bottles  of  many  shapes  and  sizes,  horn  spoons 
and  other  paraphernalia  required  in  pharmaceutical  opera- 
tions. Fastened  against  the  wall  so  as  to  attract  the  eye  of 
a  customer  entering,  were  the  diploma  of  the  proprietor  and 
his  license  to  keep  a  pharmacy.  From  the  ceiling  hung  a 
small  stuffed  crocodile,  the  carapace  of  a  tortoise  and  bun- 
dles of  dried  aromatic  herbs. 

The  drawers,  shelves  and  cupboards  of  "The  City  Phar- 
macy" were  well  stocked  with  the  substances  dispensed  for 
external  and  internal  remedies  by  the  apothecaries  of  the 
period.  Alum,  salt,  sulfur,  white  arsenic,  spermaceti,  salt- 
petre, vitriol,  sal  ammoniac,  Armenian  bole,  coral,  mother- 
of-pearl,  crocus  martis,  crocus  veneris,  amber,  antimony, 
turpeth  mineral,  album  Graecum,  crab's  eyes,  wax,  were  on 
hand,  as  well  as  the  highly  esteemed  bezoar  stone,  ambergris, 
human  skull,  asses*  hoofs,  dried  toads,  and  the  cast-off  skins 
of  vipers,  so  useful  in  dropsy.  In  large  wooden  boxes  were 
stored  the  dried  leaves,  flowers,  seeds,  bark  and  roots  of 
many  aromatic  herbs,  including  saffron,  ginger,  elder,  worm- 
wood, borage,  rhubarb,  aloes,  jalap,  rue,  Abyssinian  myrrh, 
Solomon's  seal,  and  St.  John*  wort,  gathered  on  St.  John's 
day,  and  much  in  demand  for  expelling  evil  spirits  from  sick 
persons. 

Trefoil,  vervain,  John's  wort,  dill, 
Hinder  witches  of  their  will." 

The  little  explored  New  World  across  the  Atlantic  had 
begun  to  contribute  its  valuable  remedies,  notably  china  root, 
cosa,  sarsaparilla  and  tobacco.  Spenser  enumerates  other 
medicinal  plants  in  the  following  lines : 

"The  mournful  cypress  grew  in  greatest  store; 

And  trees  of  bitter  gall,  and  ebon  sad. 

Dead  sleeping  poppy,  and  black  hellebore, 

Cold  coloquintida,  and  tetra  mad ; 

Mortal  samnitis,  and  cicuta  bad; 

With  which  th'  unjust  Athenians  made  to  die 

Wise  Socrates." 

146 


On  the  shelves  stood  gallipots  of  earthenware  containing 
lard,  marrow,  goose-fat  and  other  greasy  substances ;  in  boxes 
of  horn,  china,  zinc  and  even  of  silver  (for  costly  materials), 
were  ointments,  salves,  unguents,  balsams,  confortatives  and 
extracts  of  the  more  solid  kind.  Besides  these  the  shelves 
were  crowded  with  boxes  of  plasters,  clysters,  ataplasms,  lini- 
ments, electuaries,  and  favorite  remedies,  such  as  "oppodel- 
doch"  and  "panchymagog." 

In  glass  bottles,  grouped  on  another  row  of  shelves,  were 
the  strong  acids,  oil  of  vitriol,  spirit  of  salt,  and  aqua  fortis; 
spirits  of  wine,  turpentine  oil,  petroleum,  mercury,  essential 
oils,  besides  elixirs  and  "aquae"  without  end,  of  which  the 
most  popular  were  "aqua  benedicta"  and  "aqua  mirabilis." 
The  apothecar}7-  kept  on  hand  also  quantities  of  tinctures, 
essences,  quintessences  and  ready  made  pills;  of  the  latter 
the  "hiera  picra  Rhasis,"  "the  pillulae  alephanginae  Mesuae," 
and  "pillulae  pestilentiales  Ruffi"  were  in  constant  demand. 
Among  the  frequently  prescribed  remedies  were  the  "diambar," 
the  "diamargariton  calidum,"  "thryphera,"  the  expensive 
"collyrium  of  Danares,"  and  the  complex  mixtures  called 
"theriac"  and  "mithridat."  Theriac  was  compounded  of  from 
sixty-five  to  ninety-seven  ingredients  belonging  to  the  min- 
eral, vegetable  and  animal  kingdoms,  and  included  such  nau- 
seous things  as  troches-  of  vipers,  and  portions  of  wild  ani- 
mals not  named  in  fastidious  society.  The  great  expense 
attending  the  preparation  of  a  medicament  embracing  so 
many  and  so  rare  ingredients  caused  physicians  to  devise 
simpler  ones  for  the  poor;  thus  the  sixty-three  substances  of 
the  famous  "theriac  of  Andromachus"  were  reduced  in  num- 
ber to  four  and  in  this  form  was  sometimes  called  "diates- 
son";  its  composition  was  roots  of  gentian,  of  birth  wort, 
and  of  bay-laurel,  with  myrrh  mixed  with  honey  to  form  an 
electuary.  The  "mithridat  of  Damocles"  was  compounded  of 

147 


forty-nine  ingredients,  some  of  which  were  complex  in  them- 
selves. 

A  liniment  used  in  sciatica  affords  a  good  example  of  the 
prescriptions  sent  in  to  the  City  Pharmacy:  "Take  three 
little  new-born  dogs  and  three  living  moles,  one  pound  of 
earthworms,  leaves  of  laurel,  rosemary,  mint,  sweet  mar- 
jorem,  lavender,  thyme,  St.  John's  wort,  of  each  a  handful; 
boil  these  ingredients  in  three  pounds  of  oil  mixed  with  com- 
mon wine  until  the  latter  is  consumed;  then  pour  out  and 
express  the  liquid  from  the  solids,  add  to  the  liquid  yellow 
wax  and  goose-fat  each  ten  ounces.  Good  for  rheumatism 
and  sciatica;  apply  it  to  the  skin  heated  before  a  fire,  and 
repeat  as  often  as  required." 

Such  nostrums  were  not  peculiar  to  Central  Europe,  the 
English  poet  Chaucer  wrote  two  centuries  before  Rudolph 
began  to  reign; 

"A  day  or  two  ye  shall  have  digestives 

Of  wormes,  'ere  ye  take  your  laxatives 

Ot  laurel,  centaury  and  fumete're, 

Or  else  of  elderberry  that  groweth  there. 

Of  catapuce,  or  of  the  gaitre  berries, 

Or  herb  ivy  growing  in  our  yard  that  merry  is." 

Some  of  the  prescriptions  sent  in  to  Christian  Horcicky 
called  for  ingredients  that  required  time  and  trouble  to 
secure ;  as  for  example  the  oil  of  frog's  spawn  (used  for  chil- 
blains), and  the  liver  of  a  mad  dog  (or  of  a  wolf)  washed 
with  wine  and  dried  in  an  oven,  a  specific  for  hydrophobia. 
Perhaps  the  delay  in  supplying  such  concoctions  permitted 
the  patients  to  gain  enough  strength  to  withstand  the  nau- 
seous doses. 

A  full  supply  of  hair-dyes,  hair-invigorators,  insect- 
powders,  eye-washes  and  cosmetics  were  constantly  on  hand ; 
among  the  substances  used  to  beautify  complexions  was  an 
unguent  made  of  white  wax,  spermaceti,  borax,  alum  and 

148 


oil  of  cole  seed  which  was  spread  upon  a  cloth  worn  as  a 
masque  at  night.  A  favorite  face- wash  was  made  by  mac- 
erating two  young  pigeons  with  bread,  almonds,  and  peach 
kernels  in  goat's  milk  and  then  adding  borax,  camphor,  can- 
died sugar,  and  powdered  alum,  the  liquid  being  exposed 
three  days  to  the  sun,  kept  fifteen  days  in  a  cellar  and 
filtered.  The  wild  cucumber  was  held  in  esteem  as  a  pre- 
ventive of  wrinkles,  and  bull's  gall  for  removing  freckles. 
The  cosmetics  formed  a  lucrative  branch  of  the  business  of 
the  pharmacy,  hardly  less  so  was  the  sale  of  love  philtres ; 
of  these  the  most  important  constituents  were  the  East 
Indian  resin  called  dragon's  blood,  mandragora,  cantharides, 
vervain  and  other  aphrodisiacal  herbs;  but  the  most  highly 
esteemed  contained  the  gall  of  a  man,  the  eyes  of  a  black 
cat,  or  the  blood  of  a  bat. 

"Strait  to  the  'pothecary's  shop  I  went 

And  in  love-powder  all  my  money  spent; 

Behap  what  will,  next  Sunday  after  prayers, 

When  to  the  ale-house  Lubberkin  repairs, 

These  golden  flies  into  his  mug  I'll  throw 

And  soon  the  swain  with  fervent  love  shall  glow." 

Philtres  were  made  not  only  for  exciting  amorous  pas- 
sions, but  also  for  quenching  them:— 

"If  so  a  toad  be  laid 

In  a  sheepskin  newly  flaid, 

And  that  ty'd  to  man,  ft  will  sever 

Him  and  his  affections  ever." 

Allied  to  the  philtres  were  the  charms  superstitiously 
worn  or  carried  on  the  person  to  ward  off  the  evil  eye,  pes- 
tilence and  malignant  diseases;  moles'  feet  fastened  to  one's 
garters  and  worn  continually  were  a  recognized  charm  to 
ward  off  gout ;  the  leaves  of  shepherd's  purse  worn  in  shoes 
next  the  skin  was  a  specific  against  toothache.  Horcicky's 
shop  kept  all  these  innocent  charms  in  stock,  but  the  master 

149 


declined  conscientiously  to  deal  in  abrunes,  or  images  carved 
out  of  mandrake  roots  which  were  consulted  as  oracles,  in 
order  not  to  countenance  such  impious  superstitions. 

A  profitable  class  of  substances  commonly  sold  in  phar- 
macies of  the  sixteenth  century  remains  to  be  mentioned ; 
these  were  cane  sugar  (generally  kept  in  cones  and  cut  off  as 
wanted),  treacle,  honey  and  varieties  of  syrups,  conserves, 
lohocks,  confections  and  robs,  of  which  the  basis  was  sugar 
or  honey.  The  apothecary  also  dealt  in  spices,  cordials,  dis- 
tilled waters  and  fumigating  pastilles,  as  well  as  sealing-wax, 
paper,  ink  and  pens. 

Jacob's  knowledge  of  botany  was  of  great  assistance  to 
Christian  Horcicky  in  the  collection  and  identification  of 
medicinal  plants,  both  indigenous  and  exotic;  together  they 
had  invented  a  toilet-water  that  was  in  great  demand  as  a 
medicine  and  perfume  in  court  circles  and  among  the  wealthy 
aristocrats  of  all  Bohemia.  ,  This  prototype  of  the  modern 
Eau  de  Cologne  was  made  by  distilling  essential  oils  of  plants 
cultivated  for  the  purpose,  and  was  sold  under  the  name 
Aqua  Smapu,  Sinapius  being  the  Latinized  form  of  the  Bohe- 
mian name  Horcicky,  which  by  the  way  signifies  mustard 
(Sinapis). 

Aqua  Sinapii  was  manufactured  at  the  laboratory  in  the 
court-yard,  where  also  all  operations  requiring  intense  heat, 
such  as  fusion  and  sublimation,  were  carried  on;  there  too, 
distillations  were  conducted  and  secret  arcana,  were  prepared 
by  the  hardworked  apprentice  Carlo  Malombra,  a  Venetian, 
assisted  by  Ferdinand  Horcicky,  Christian's  younger  son. 
The  laboratory  was  a  stone  building  so  placed  on  sloping 
ground  as  to  have  two  stories  on  the  front  and  but  one  at 
the  back;  in  the  lower  room,  almost  as  dark  as  a  cellar, 
were  several  furnaces,  some  furnished  with  artificial  blasts 
and  some  built  for  gentler  fires,  besides  water-baths,  filtering 

150 


sleeves,  pelicans  and  mortars ;  without  the  door  were  piles  of 
charcoal. 

"And  sundry  vessels  made  of  earth  and  glass, 

Our  urinals  and  our  descensories ; 

Phials  and  crosslets  and  subllmatories, 

Cucurbits  and  alembikes  eke 

And  other  such,  dear  enough  a  leek." 

In  the  upper  room  was  kept  a  large  stock  of  dried  herbs, 
also  casks  of  wine  and  small  kegs  of  oil.  In  one  corner,  on 
a  table  under  a  window,  lay  several  herbals  and  a  good 
selection  of  the  most  valuable  pharmacopoeias ;  these  included 
Otto  Brunfels'  "Reformation  of  Pharmacy"  (Mayence,  1536), 
Ryffs  "Book  of  Confections"  (Strassburg,  1548),  and  the 
latest  edition  of  the  admirable  work  by  Valerius  Cordus, 
published  at  Antwerp  in  1580  under  the  title  "Pharmacorum 
conficiendorum  ratio,  vulgo  vocant  Dispensatorium." 

All  day  and  late  into  the  night  the  apprentices  labored 
mightily  with  mortar  and  pestle,  with  coals  and  bellows, 
cucurbits  and  stillatories,  preparing  the  monstrous  remedies 
dispensed  in  the  front  shop ;  to  the  upper  room  repaired  also 
Christian  himself  when  he  was  engaged  in  uroscopy,  another 
regular  and  lucrative  source  of  income. 

When  alone  Carlo  Malombra  brooded  over  unrequited 
love  for  his  master's  lovely  daughter,  and  cursed  the  day 
that  brought  Lieutenant  Maximilian  Swoboda  into  the  family 
circle  of  the  Horcickys ;  he,  Carlo,  was  well  born,  being  the 
nephew  of  the  Venetian  artist  Pietro  Malombra,  and  he  felt 
indignant  at  the  menial  position  he  filled.  He  had  been  clerk 
to  one  of  the  Professors  of  medicine  at  the  University  of 
Padua,  but  an  awkward  event,  in  which  the  deadly  Aqua 
Toffniria  had  been  too  freely  used  and  with  which  his  name 
was  connected,  caused  him  to  bury  himself,  as  he  thought, 
in  the  wilds  of  unpolished  Bohemia. 

On  a  beautifully,  clear,  refreshing  morning  in  the  month 


of  September,  after  a  sleepless  night,  caused  by  overfeeding 
and  insufficient  exercise,  the  Emperor  Rudolph  left  his  private 
rooms,  accompanied  by  a  valet,  to  take  a  stroll  through  the 
pleasure  garden  and  to  visit  the  well-stocked  stables ;  he  re- 
membered with  a  half  melancholy  smile  that  he  had  ordered 
the  name  of  the  snow-white  Arabian  stallion  changed  from 
"Kelley"  to  "Sendivogius,"  but  events  had  proved  that  the 
latter  was  no  more  desirable  than  the  former.  As  he  ap- 
proached the  royal  mews  he  saw  a  group  of  officers  and  men 
gesticulating  and  talking  in  agitated  tones  as  if  of  some 
calamity,  and  on  inquiry  of  the  imperial  Master  of  the  sta- 
bles, Colonel  von  Podebrad,  he  learned  the  cause  of  the  dis- 
turbance. During  the  night  several  of  the  horses  had  been 
taken  ill,  two  of  them  in  fact,  "Eva"  and  "Clelia,"  Rudolph's 
pets,  were  already  dead,  "Gilles  Sadeler"  and  "Magdalena" 
\vere  in  a  critical  condition,  and  "Johann  von  Aachen"  was 
convalescent;  the  obvious  cause  was  poisoned  oats  intro- 
duced into  the  mangers  by  some  unknown  person ;  two  clues 
to  the  criminal  had  been  found,  viz:  —  a  peasant's  basket  in 
the  shrubbery  below  the  stables,  and  a  silver  spur  marked 
"S"  in  one  of  the  stalls. 

The  usually  impassive  Emperor  became  enraged  almost 
beyond  the  limits  of  dignity,  and  summoning  the  Vice  Chan- 
cellor, who  came  in  all  haste,  he  placed  in  Curtius'  hands  the 
investigation,  urging  him  to  spare  no  pains  to  discover  the 
guilty  miscreant.  The  men  on  watch  the  preceding  night 
were  arrested  at  once,  and  the  Colonel  was  warned  of  simi- 
lar danger. 

News  of  the  traged}r  in  the  royal  mews  spread  rapidly, 
and  when  the  citizens  of  Old  Prague  and  the  residents  of  the 
Hradschin  heard  that  Lieutenant  Maximilian  Swoboda  had 
been  arrested  on  good  grounds  and  confined  in  Daliborka 
Tower,  they  were  moved  with  indignation,  amazement  and 

153 


pity.  Those  who  did  not  know  of  the  tell-tale  spur  were  dis- 
posed to  accuse  members  of  a  band  of  gypsies  who  had  en- 
camped on  the  hills  in  the  outskirts  of  the  City,  especially  as 


A   PHARMACY    IN   XVI.  CENTURY. 


one  of  their  number  was  known  to  have  failed  in  his  attempt 
to  sell  to  the  master  of  the  stables  a  splendid  horse  brought 
from  Hungary,  and  had  been  heard  to  threaten  vengeance; 


153 


the  entire  band  of  seventeen  persons,  representing  four  gen- 
erations, was  arrested  and  confined  in  barracks,  where  they 
were  destined  to  linger  many  a  weary  month,  forgotten  of 
their  captors. 

In  the  Horcicky  household  consternation  raged ;  Christian, 
his  wife  Dorothea,  Jacob  and  Ferdinand  were  overwhelmed 
with  grief,  Sofie  was  prostrated,  and  Carlo  Malombra  was 
voluble  in  sympathetic  inquiries  and  protestations  of  dis- 
tress. Two  days  passed  and  they  seemed  like  so  many 
months  to  the  friends  of  the  Lieutenant  who  was  not  allowed 
to  communicate  with  a  living  soul;  at  length,  however, 
Fraulein  Sofie  recovered  her  composure  and  pointed  out  to 
her  brother  Jacob  the  total  lack  of  a  motive  on  the  part  of 
her  fiance,  and  spoke  of  his  great  affection  for  and  devotion 
to  the  mute  animals  under  his  care;  Jacob  then  waited  on 
the  clerk  of  the  tribunal  having  charge  of  the  case  and  made 
a  strong  impression  on  him  in  favor  of  Swoboda. 

On  the  morning  of  the  third  day  Dr.  Michael  Maier  cal- 
led at  the  City  Pharmacy  to  purchase  for  his  own  use  a 
bottle  of  Aqua  Sinapii,  and  expressed  surprise  at  the  dejected 
appearance  of  the  Horcickys,  father  and  son;  on  hearing 
from  them  the  tragedy  of  the  mews  and  of  the  arrest  of  his 
young  friend  Maximilian,  he  said  that  he  believed  he  could 
clear  the  officer  from  suspicion.  The  Doctor  and  Jacob  hast- 
ened to  the  Vice  Chancellor,  who  admitted  them  at  once  to 
his  private  chamber;  there  Doctor  Maier  made  the  following 
statement :  On  the  night  of  the  equine  catastrophe  the  moon 
was  in  Aries,  which  was  favorable  for  gathering  human  skull 
to  be  used  in  a  magical  potion  for  which  he  was  gradually 
securing  the  ingredients;  accordingly  he  started  about  two 
o'clock  in  the  morning  to  collect  the  material  in  the  old  Jews' 
cemetery,  and  as  he  passed  through  the  royal  gardens  he 
encountered  a  man  creeping  along,  screened  by  the  shrubbery 

154 


and  trees.  Concealing  himself,  the  Doctor  watched  the  man 
who  was  dressed  like  a  peasant,  carried  a  basket  in  his  hand 
and  stealthily  approached  the  stables.  After  collecting  the 
bones  in  the  graveyard  he  was  returning  to  the  Hradschin 
when  he  met  a  messenger  from  Baron  von  Zelewski  sum- 
moning him  to  the  bedside  of  his  wife;  he  drove  to  the 
Baron's  residence  in  Wyschehrad,  a  suburb  of  Old  Prague, 
and  there  he  had  been  professionally  detained  two  nights; 
thus  it  happened  that  he  first  heard  of  the  sad  affair  that  agi- 
tated the  whole  City  when  he  called  at  Horcicky's  Pharmacy. 

Questioned  by  Jacob,  who  began  to  see  daylight,  Dr. 
Maier  said  the  peasant  was  short  and  stout  and  walked 
with  a  limp  as  if  one  leg  was  shorter  than  the  other.  Hor- 
cicky  then  explained  to  the  Vice  Chancellor  how  the  Venetian 
apprentice,  jealous  of  the  Lieutenant's  betrothal  to  Fraulein 
Sofie,  had  probably  sought  to  inculpate  him  in  the  dastardly 
deed;  the  description  of  the  supposed  peasant's  appearance 
and  halting  gait  tallied  exactly  with  that  of  Carlo  Malombra. 

Then  Curtius  dismissed  the  physician  and  the  botanist, 
ordered  the  Italian  put  to  the  question  and  soon  extorted 
from  him  a  full  confession.  On  reporting  these  facts  to  the 
Emperor,  his  Majesty  decreed  that  the  wretched  man  should 
be  confined  in  the  uppermost  room  of  the  Hunger  Tower, 
and  that  he  should  be  supplied  with  a  plenty  of  delicate  food 
and  drink,  all  impregnated  with  the  poison  "aqua  Toffnina" 
that  had  proved  fatal  to  the  royal  animals.  The  decree  was 
carried  out  with  refined  cruelty,  and  the  horrible  fate  of 
Malombra  can  be  guessed. 

Swoboda  was  promoted  to  be  Captain  of  the  Royal  Dra- 
goons and  Jacob  Horcicky,  now  better  known  as  Sinapius, 
was  made  Director  of  the  Imperial  Botanic  Gardens. 


155 


CHAPTER  XV. 
RUDOLPH'S   DREAM. 

"I  asked  Philosophy  how  I  should 
Have  of  her  the  thing  I  would ; 
She  answered  me  when  I  was  able 
To  make  the  Water  malliable; 
Or  else  the  way  if  I  could  finde 
To  mesure  out  a  yard  of  Winde ; 
Then  shalt  thou  have  thine  own  desire, 
When  thou  can'st- weigh  an  ounce  of  Fire; 
Unless  that  thou  can'st  doe  these  three, 
Content  thyself,  thou  get'st  not  me.*' 

ABBI  BEZALEL  LOEW  the  erudite  philosopher, 
like  all  his  co-religionists,  lived  in  the  Ghetto  of 
Prague,  but  his  house  in  "Broad  Street"  was  dis- 
tinguished above  those  of  his  neighbors  by  a  lion 
carved  in  stone  placed  over  the  doorway.  This  symbol  of 
his  family  name  commemorated  an  incident  that  had  caused 
unending  wonderment  among  the  inhabitants  of  the  Jew's 
quarter,  a  visit  from  the  occupant  of  the  imperial  throne  of 
Germany,  who  had  condescended  to  penetrate  the  sombre 
streets  of  the  despised  Ghetto  and  to  enter  the  humble 
dwelling  of  his  Hebrew  subject,  in  order  to  express  in  this 
conspicuous  way  his  admiration  for  the  learning  and  the 
virtue  of  the  tenant. 

156 


The  common  folk  of  the  Ghetto,  as  well  as  of  the  rest  of 
the  City,  attributed  to  the  benevolent  Rabbi  supernatural 
powers,  but  never  accused  him  of  using  them  for  evil  pur- 
poses ;  his  learning  extended  not  only  to  the  mysteries  of  the 
Kabbala  but  to  many  branches  of  natural  philosophy  as 
well,  and  his  knowledge  of  the  camera  obscura,  experiments 
with  which  had  been  shown  to  a  few  privileged  friends, 
formed  a  fairly  substantial  basis  for  their  belief;  he  was 
popularly  supposed  to  have  transferred  to  his  dwelling  in 
the  Ghetto  by  magic  spells,  the  hundred-windowed  palace  on 
the  Hradschin  and  to  have  exhibited  the  marvel  to  Rudolph 
on  the  occasion  of  his  memorable  visit.  Had  the  modest 
philosopher  been  known  to  Gabriel  Naude,  the  Frenchman 
would  have  included  him  in  the  list  of  honorable  men  defended 
in  his  "Apologie  pour  les  grands  hommes  soup9onnez  de 
magie,"  written  a  few  years  later. 

The  gifted  Rabbi  was  believed  to  have  surpassed  the 
achievement  of  the  English  Bare-foot  monk  of  the  thirteenth 
century,  called  by  scholastics  " Doctor  Mirabilis,"  on  account 
of  his  prodigious  learning;  according  to  tradition  Roger  Bacon 
had  made  a  human  head  out  of  brass  and  had  endowed  it 
with  the  power  of  speech,  and  rumor  reported  that  Loew, 
by  the  aid  of  kabbalistic  formulae  and  supernatural  gifts, 
had  formed  of  clay  a~  dwarf  possessing  attributes  far  more 
marvellous  than  those  of  the  brazen  head.  The  "Hebrew 
Roger  Bacon  of  Prague"  by  touching  the  forehead  of  the  in- 
animate dwarf  with  his  consecrated  finger  and  impressing 
thereon  the  mystical  letters 

GOLEM 

had  communicated  to  it  life,  willpower  and  intelligence.  This 
automaton  long  served  his  master  with  cheerful  obedience; 
on  the  Sabbath  and  on  Holy  days  of  the  Israelites,  the  dwarf 

157 


\ 


cleansed  the  sacred  candlesticks,  prepared  the  table  for  meals, 
and  did  all  the  house-work  necessary  to  the  comfort  of  the 
orthodox  Rabbi  and  his  daughter,  but  forbidden  them  by 
authority  of  the  Hebrew  fathers. 

Not  content  with  this  extravagant  tale,  rumor  noised 
abroad  further  details  of  the  experience  of  the  Bohemian 
wizard  with  his  home-made  servant.  The  dwarf,  though 
requiring  no  nourishment,  grew  in  size  gradually,  becoming 
a  huge  giant  bigger  than  Goliath  and  stronger  than  Samson; 
such  superhuman  strength  did  he  possess  that  he  snapped 
trunks  of  trees  like  wheat-straws,  and  lifted  enormous  weights 
as  easily  as  a  child  raises  a  loaf  of  bread.  One  Friday  even- 
ing as  the  pious  Rabbi  was  about  to  offer  thanks  for  the 
supper  spread  upon  the  table,  the  giant  presuming  on  his 
strength  dared  to  resist  the  will  of  his  gentle  and  yet  power- 
ful master  and  refused  to  obey  the  order  to  polish  the  brass 
candlesticks;  he  forgot  himself  so  far  as  to  threaten  the 
Hebrew  sage  and  proposed  to  crush  him  between  two  of  his 
artificial  fingers  like  an  unconscious  egg,  unless  he  was  per- 
mitted to  sit  at  the  table  and  to  share  in  the  evening  meal. 
Being  stoutly  refused,  the  giant  then  broke  into  a  great  rage 
and  threatened  to  destroy  every  movable  thing  in  the  entire 
house;  thereupon  his  master  spoke  to  him  as  follows :  "You 
seem  to  have  forgotten  that  notwithstanding  your  immense 
strength  of  arm  you  are  but  a  miserable  lump  of  clay  which 
shall  retain  life  and  power  only  so  long  as  you  obey  my 
wishes  and  serve  me  faithfully;  since  in  your  silly  bravado 
you  dare  to  oppose  your  will  to  mine,  I  will  show  you  that 
the  weakling  Bezalel  Loew  is  nevertheless  stronger  than  an 
unthankful,  senseless  lump  of  clay ;  kneel  and  humbly  beg  my 
pardon!" 

The  giant,  however,  broke  into  a  demoniacal  laugh  so 

1  boisterous  that  the  windows  of  the  apartment  were  shattered. 

158 


"You  cowardly  brute,  do  you  still  think  to  oppose  me 
who  can  destroy  you  by  a  thought!" 

The  foolish  giant  replied:  "Destroy  me  if  you  can,"  and 
attempted  to  raise  his  right  arm  to  crush  his  master,  when 
he  felt  a  numbness  creeping  throughout  his  limbs  that 
deprived  him  of  strength  as  well  as  of  vain  confidence. 
"What  is  it?"  he  cried. 

"Your  punishment  and  annihilation,"  said  the  Rabbi, 
who  then  rose  from  the  table  and  with  a  stroke  of  his  finger 
erased  from  the  swelling  forehead  of  the  giant  the  kabbalistic 
letters 

GOLEM, 

and  at  the  same  instant  the  automaton,  deprived  of  vital 
energy,  fell  to  the  ground  and  broke  into  a  thousand  pieces. 

"Er  war  gewesen,"  quietly  remarked  the  Rabbi,  who 
gave  thanks  to  Jehovah  for  his  mercies  and  proceeded  un- 
moved to  finish  his  evening  meal. 

The  innocent  subject  of  these  wild  and  uncontro verted 
legends  sat  in  an  easy  chair  one  stormy  winter  night,  before 
a  blazing  wood  fire  that  lighted  the  room  more  brilliantly 
than  the  highly  ornamental  lamp  on  the  table  at  his  side. 
On  his  knees  lay  a  recently  published  book  entitled  "Symbola 
divina  et  humana,"  -written  by  his  friend  Jacques  Typot,  a 
Fleming  who  held  the  post  of  librarian  to  the  Emperor ;  the 
book  was  a  collection  of  mottoes  and  emblems  of  Popes, 
Emperors  and  Kings,  and  was  sumptuously  illustrated  with 
copper  plates  engraved  by  Gilles  Sadeler.  Low,  however, 
was  not  thinking  of  the  volume  but  of  the  singular  history 
of  the  author. 

Jacques  Typot,  after  studying  jurisprudence  in  the  most 
celebrated  schools  of  the  Netherlands,  as  well  as  at  Padua 
and  Bologna,  was  invited  to  Stockholm  by  Sigismund  III., 

159 


King  of  Sweden  and  Poland,  who  appointed  him  royal 
Councillor.  He  rose  rapidly  to  great  eminence  and  thereby 
excited  the  envy  and  hatred  of  the  Swedish  Fieldmarshal 
Pontus  de  la  Gardie,  and  after  publication  of  a  history  of 
the  Kingdom  of  Sweden  that  displeased  those  in  power,  the 
army  officer  accused  him  of  treason  and  secured  a  judgment 
of  death  against  him;  by  the  intercession  of  his  brother 
Matthias,  however,  the  penalty  was  reduced  to  imprisonment 
for  ten  years  and  subsequent  banishment  from  Sweden.  The 
miserable  decade  ended  in  1595,  Typot  then  went  to  Germany 
where  his  works  "De  fortuna"  and  "De  fato,"  attracted  the 
attention  of  Rudolph  who  appointed  him  royal  historian  at 
a  large  salary.  In  Sweden  Typot  had  been  sentenced  to  be 
beheaded,  and  Rudolph  with  a  rare  humor  always  called  him 
"the  headless." 

Loew  and  Typot  had  become  warm  friends  and  it  was 
merely  a  trifling  coincidence  that  the  historian,  accompanied 
by  Dr.  Michael  Maier,  was  announced  just  as  the  Rabbi 
awoke  from  his  reveries;  the  two  were  cordially  received, 
their  snow-covered  garments  were  laid  aside,  and  their  host 
ordered  hot  mulled  wine  to  be  prepared  for  their  refreshment. 
Dr.  Maier,  who  had  Hebrew  ancestors  on  his  mother's  side, 
was  no  stranger  at  the  Lion  House;  he  and  the  Rabbi  were 
wont  to  discuss  cosmology,  pneumatology  and  theosophy 
sometimes  far  into  the  small  hours  of  the  night.  The  learned 
Doctor  was  a  plain  featured  man,  having  high  cheek  bones, 
a  long  nose,  square  jaws,  a  chin  beard  and  mustache  taper- 
ing at  each  end ;  his  rotund  body  with  square  shoulders  was 
supported  by  slender  legs  that  seemed  inadequate  for  the 
purpose.  He  affected  fashionable  and  luxurious  garments 
and  habitually  wore  a  wide  linen  collar  shaped  like  a  yoke; 
from  his  neck  was  suspended  a  decoration.  He  called  on 
Loew  with  Typotius  to  have  a  triangular  conference  about 

160 


the  illustrations  to  be  used  in  his  forth-coming  book 
"Atalanta  fugiens,  or  New  Emblems  of  the  Secrets  of  Nature." 

The  three  philosophers  were  soon  in  deep  consultation; 
Dr.  Maier  exhibited  a  beautifully  drawn  sketch  of  the  illu- 
minated title-page  of  his  book.  On  the  left  side  and  upper 
part  appeared  the  Garden  of  the  Hesperides,  Hercules,  clad 
in  a  lion's  skin  and  carrying  a  club  over  his  shoulder,  was 
plucking  the  golden  apples ;  the  two  sisters  Aegle  and  Are- 
thusa  were  in  friendly  conversation,  the  third  sister  Hesper- 
tusa  looking  on ;  beneath  the  trees  the  many-headed  monster 
Ladon  was  vainly  guarding  the  fruit.  On  the  right  hand 
side  and  below,  Venus  was  handing  golden  apples  to  the 
youth  Hippomenes,  who  appeared  again  below  running  a 
race  with  the  fair  Atalanta,  and  dropping  the  precious  fruit 
which  the  damsel  stooped  to  pick  up,  thereby  losing  the  race; 
in  the  corner  was  the  sanctuary  of  Cybele,  and  near  by  a 
lion  and  a  lioness  promenading,  into  which  animals  the 
enraged  goddess  had  transformed  the  guilty  pair. 

Both  Loew  and  Typotius  declared  the  symbolic  drawing 
could  not  be  improved  and  the  three  turned  to  another 
emblem  depicting  "Mother  Earth;"  a  nude  woman  stood 
erect  in  a  fertile  landscape,  her  neck,  shoulders  and  trunk 
being  drawn  so  as  to  represent  the  terrestrial  globe  furnished 
with  feminine  paps;  slie  was  giving  suck  to  an  infant  sup- 
ported on  her  right  arm.  Below  on  her  right,  Jupiter  was 
being  suckled  by  a  goat,  on  her  left  Romulus  and  Remus 
were  nursed  by  a  wolf;  in  the  background  were  castles  and 
mountain  peaks;  above  was  the  legend  "Nutrix  ejus  terra 
est,"  a  phrase  occurring  in  the  Emerald  Tablet.  Exa- 
mination of  this  emblem  directed  the  thoughts  of  the  Rabbi 
to  the  genesis  of  the  world,  and  having  secured  the  attention 
of  his  guests,  he  lay  back  in  his  easy  chair,  closed  his  eyes 
and  discoursed  as  follows: 


161 


"Jehovah  created  all  things  by  his  "word,  saying:  "Be," 
and  they  were  made ;  together  with  the  four  elements,  earth, 
water,  air  and  fire,  which  He  coagulated,  and  contrary  things 
were  commingled,  for  we  see  that  fire  is  hostile  to  water,  and 
water  hostile  to  fire,  and  both  are  hostile  to  earth  and  air. 
Yet  Jehovah  united  them  peacefully  and  out  of  them  all  things 
are  created — heaven  and  the  throne  thereof;  the  angels;  the 
sun,  moon  and  stars ;  earth  and  sea,  with  all  things  that  are 
in  the  sea,  which  indeed  are  various,  for  their  natures  have 
been  made  diverse  by  Jehovah.  Now  this  diversity  exists  in 
all  creatures,  because  they  were  made  out  of  different  ele- 
ments ;  had  they  been  created  out  of  one  element,  they  would 
have  been  agreeing  natures.  But  diverse  elements  being  here 
mingled,  they  lose  their  own  natures,  because  the  dry  being 
mixed  with  the  humid  and  the  cold  combined  with  the  hot 
become  neither  cold  nor  hot;  so  also  the  humid  being  mixed 
with  the  dry  becomes  neither  dry  nor  humid.  When  the  four 
elements  are  comingled  they  agree,  and  thence  proceed  crea- 
tures that  never  reach  perfection  except  they  be  left  by  night 
to  putrefy  and  become  visibly  corrupt;  Jehovah  further  com- 
pleted His  work  by  imparting  life  and  government." 

Rabbi  Loew  paused  long  enough  to  drain  a  glass  of  wine 
and  preceded : — 

"In  the  disposition  of  these  four  elements  is  a  secret  ar- 
canum; two  of  them  are  perceptible  to  the  sense  of  touch  and 
vision  viz:  earth  and  water  the  virtue  of  which  is  well  know; 
but  the  other  two  are  neither  visible  nor  tangible,  which 
yield  naught,  whereof  the  place  is  never  seen,  nor  are  their 
operations  and  value  known." 

Dr.  Maier  replying  to  his  friend  said:  "Your  character- 
ization of  the  genesis  and  nature  of  the  four  elements  is 
plausible,  but  we  must  remember  that  our  great  master 
Paracelsus  taught  us  otherwise."  "When  creation  tools; 

162 


place,"  he  wrote,  "the  Yliaster  divided  itself  and  developed 
out  of  itself  the  Ideos  or  Primordial  Essence ;  this  is  of  a 
monistic  nature  and  manifests  itself  not  only  as  a  vital  activ- 
ity, a  spiritual  force,  an  invisible,  incomprehensible  and  inde- 
scribable power,  but  also  as  vital  matter  of  which  the  sub- 


stance of  living  beings  consists.  In  the  Limbus,  or  Ideos  of 
primordial  matter,  the  matrix  of  all  created  things,  the  sub- 
stance of  all  things  is  contained.  As  creation  took  place  and 
the  Yliaster  dissolved,  Ares,  the  differentiating  power  of  the 
Supreme  Cause  began  to  act ;  all  production  took  place  in  con- 
ies 


sequence  of  separation,  and  out  of  the  Ideos  were  born  the 
elements  of  Fire,  Earth,  Water  and  Air."  These  facts  by  the 
way  are  represented  in  my  "Atalanta  fugiens"  by  four  nude 
men  bearing  in  their  hands  the  substances  they  symbolize; 
this,  and  each  of  the  other  emblems,  fifty  in  all,  is  explained 
by  Latin  verses  set  to  music,  which  you  will  all  admit  is  a 
novel  feature." 

Having  thus  cleverly  turned  the  conversation  away  from 
the  philosoph}^  of  genesis,  the  examination  of  the  sketches 
prepared  for  illustrating  Maier's  book  was  resumed  and  oc- 
cupied the  three  friends  for  a  long  time. 

Jacques  Typot,  who  had  listened  intently  while  Loew  and 
Maier  were  talking,  then  addressed  them  as  follows: — "Being 
a  historian  and  not  a  philosopher  I  am  not  learned  in  the 
things  whereof  you  have  been  speaking,  but  I  have  long  held 
an  opinion  as  to  the  primordial  elements  that  differs  from 
any  hitherto  advanced;  you  speak  of  four  elements,  whereas 
I  find  the  number  may  well  be  reduced  to  two; — viz:  earth 
and  water ;  the  first  is  fixed  and  indestructible  and  out  of  it 
comes  forth  fire;  water  is  volatile  and  vaporous,  and  is 
easily  changed  into  air,  as  every  one  knows  who  boils  a 
kettle." 

This  theory  was  not  favorably  received  by  the  con- 
servative Rabbi,  and  he  and  Dr.  Maier  were  arguing  the  pro- 
position of  Typotius,  when  another  visitor  was  announced, 
no  less  a  personage  than  Dr.  Gottfried  Steegius.  The  new- 
comer was  made  welcome  and  refreshment  was  offered;  Loew 
perceiving  that  he  had  news  to  communicate  urged  him  to 
speak  at  once ;  the  Doctor  then  stated  that  he  had  just  been 
consulted  by  his  Majesty,  the  Emperor,  who  sought  to  have 
a  singular  dream  interpreted  that  had  disturbed  his  slumbers 
on  the  preceding  night;  he,  Steegius,  being  unable  to  explain 
it,  had  been  commissioned  by  the  Emperor  to  confer  with 

164 


the  learned  Hebrew.    The  Rabbi,  the  physician  and  the  his 
torian   manifested   great   curiosity   to    hear  the  dream;  Dr. 
Steegius   said   he  would   relate   the   dream  in  the  Emperor's 
own  words. 

"In  the  midst  of  a  peaceful  sleep  I  thought  I  stood  in  a 
forest  of  trees,  six  of  which  were  nobler  and  taller  than  the 
rest,  and  formed  a  circular  grove;  they  were  marked  with 
obscure  symbols  that  I  could  not  comprehend.  The  first  tree 
was  humid  and  white  like  tin,  the  second  was  dry  and  white 
like  lead,  the  third  was  humid  and  black  like  iron,  the  fourth 
was  hot,  dry  and  red  like  copper,  the  fifth  was  dry  and  black 
like  silver,  and  the  sixth  was  hot  and  humid  like  yellow  gold. 
In  and  through  the  grove  moved  swiftly  a  figure  like  that  of 
mercury;  as  I  was  watching  his  eccentric  movements  the 
vision  changed,  the  trees  disappeared  and  I  found  myself  in 
a  splendid  palace  having  fifteen  rooms,  on  a  lofty  throne  sat 
a  King  of  noble  mien,  his  brow  encircled  with  a  diadem  and 
his  hand  grasping  a  sceptre  of  power.  Before  the  King 
kneeled  his  son  and  five  servants  dressed  in  robes  of  different 
colors,  and  the  servants  implored  the  King  to  bestow  on  the 
son  and  on  themselves  shares  of  his  power,  but  he  did  not 
deign  to  reply.  Infuriated  at  the  King's  nonchalance,  the 
son,  incited  by  the  five  servants,  stabbed  the  father  as  he  sat 
upon  the  throne ;  he  '  then  caught  his  father's  blood  in  his 
robe.  Without,  the  servants  dug  a  grave  two  handbreadths 
in  depth  and  four  inches  in  width ;  into  this  tomb  the  son 
endeavored  to  throw  his  father,  but  fell  in  himself  also  and 
was  prevented  from  getting  out  by  an  Aquastor.  The  King 
and  his  son  were  in  the  tomb  a  very  long  time,  and  in  my 
•  dream  I  saw  their  bones  which  were  divided  into  nine  parts 
by  an  angel  who  cast  one  part  of  them  upon  whitened  and 
purified  earth.  Meanwhile  the  servants  prayed  to  the  Al- 
mighty to  restore  their  King,  and  a  second  angel  was  sent 

165 


who  cast  the  other  eight  parts  of  the  bones  on  the  earth 
where  they  became  white,  transparant  and  firm,  while  the 
earth  became  as  red  as  rubies.  A  shadow  passed  over  the 
scene  as  if  a  curtain  of  gauzy  material  fell  before  my  eyes,  it 
then  rolled  away  and  I  saw  the  King  risen  from  his  tomb 
in  great  majesty,  splendor  and  power.  I  imagined  he  would 
punish  his  guilty  son  and  the  wicked  servants,  but  to  my 
surprise  the  King  placed  crowns  of  gold  upon  their  heads 
and  proclaimed  them  princes  in  his  kingdom.'* 

Just  as  Dr.  Steegius  ceased  speaking,  Typotius  pointed 
out  of  the  window,  and  the  others  saw  with  surprise  the 
sun  rising  unobscured  by  clouds ;  Loew  instantly  exclaimed  : 
"Behold  the  interpretation  of  the  Emperor's  dream!  The 
regal  Sun  vanquished  by  night  is  liberated  from  the  tomb  of 
obscurity  by  the  aid  of  the  angel  Dawn,  and  rises  in  un- 
diminished  splendor  to  bestow  glorious  blessings  on  unworthy 
creatures!" 


166 


CHAPTER  XVI. 
MAGIC  AND   SORCERY. 

"Occult  Philosophy  relates  things  which  God  -would  not  do, 
which  the  Devil  could  not  do,  which  none  but  a  liar  would  assert 
and  none  but  a  fool  believe." 


OHEMIA,  in  the  reign  of  Rudolph  II.,  shared  with 
the  rest  of  central  Europe  an  inheritance  from 
bygone  time  of  mystical ,  lore  which  had  attained 
;in  the  Middle  Ages  to  the  dignity  of  a  philoso- 
phical system.  An  extraordinary  "medley  of  fact  and  false- 
hood, of  enthusiasm  and  imposture,  of  profundity  and 
absurdity"  which  was  current  among  the  unlettered,  inex- 
perienced, common  people,  had  been  accepted  as  truth  by  men 
of  superior  intellectuaj  attainments  and  of  the  highest  repu- 
tation for  probity,  and  in  their  hands  this  volume  of  super- 
stitious beliefs  exerted  immense  influence  on  natural  and 
metaphysical  philosophy.  "  Philosophers  in  the  infancy  of 
science  are  as  imaginative  as  poets,"  and  phenomena  now 
explained  by  reference  to  known  physical  laws  were  regarded 
by  them  as  manifestations  of  supernatural  forces,  controlled 
by  evil  demons  or  by  beneficent  spirits.  .  Every  branch  of 
thought  and  learning  became  imbued  with  the  supernatural; 
theology,  philosophy,  science  and  medicine  were  entrapped 
in  "superstition's  thrice  entangled  web." 

167 


The  belief  that  a  continual  communion  existed  between 
mankind  and  the  spirits  of  good  and  of  evil,  and  that  man 
could  exercise  authority  over  these  celestial  and  infernal 
beings  was  taught  by  many  ecclesiastics  and  became  a  part  of 
religion ;  and  the  belief  that  natural  objects  had  occult  pro- 
perties, that  such  manifestations  of  physical  forces  as  thunder 
and  lightning,  earthquakes,  hail,  and  even  the  light  of  the 
celestial  bodies,  were  directed  by  spirits  over  which  man  had 
some  control,  became  an  integral  doctrine  of  science.  After 
several  generations  of  people  had  accepted  these  teachings 
and  views,  the  force  of  antiquity  was  added  to  that  of 
authority,  and  "Science,  scarcely  more  than  in  embryo,  was 
unable  to  resist  the  giant  spirit  of  Superstition  that  then 
lorded  it  over  the  intellectual  world." 

The  investigation  of  the  occult  properties  of  matter 
together  with  the  nature,  influence,  and  character  of  spiritual 
beings,  their  mode  of  communication  with  mortals,  and  the 
ways  by  which  their  aid  might  be  obtained  became  the  object 
of  Occult  Philosophy.  Of  this  there  were  three  principal 
branches : 

Natural  Magic,  which  concerned  itself  with  the  occult 
properties  of  natural  bodies  in  the  animal,  vege- 
table and  mineral  kingdoms. 

Theurgy,  or  divine  magic,  which  claimed  to  deal  with 
good  spirits  and  the  angels  of  Heaven,  and  to 
train  the  soul  of  man  to  become  fit  to  receive 
their  beneficent  gifts,  as  well  as  to  learn  how  to 
see  and  converse  with  them.  And 

Goety,  or  black  magic,  which  pretended  to  teach 
methods  for  securing  the  powerful  assistance  of 
infernal  demons  in  earning  out  evil  and  criminal 
designs;  those  practising  it  were  generally  supposed 
to  have  made  a  compact  with  Satan  involving 
the  loss  of  their  souls. 

168 


The  influence  exerted  by  man  over  spiritual  beings  was 
thought  to  be  consistent  with  natural  laws;  Paracelsus 
taught  that  the  will  of  man  had  effect  on  the  behavior  of 
invisible  beings,  because  the  latter  were  inferior,  and  the 
lower  is  always  subject  to  the  higher.  "The  thought  of  man 
is  as  potent  to  impress  a  spirit  as  the  spoken  word  is  to 
impress  the  mind  of  man,  for  spirits  have  no  physical  ears 
to  hear  physical  sounds,  and  the  voice  is  only  needed  for 
those  who  cannot  hear  with  the  spirit."  Warrant  for  a 
belief  in  theurgy  and  in  goety  was  found  in  the  Holy  Scrip- 
tures ;  it  was  pointed  out  that  by  the  exercise  of  supernatural 
powers  the  magicians  of  Pharaoh,  and  of  Moses  the  man  of 
God,  changed  rods  into  serpents,  that  the  Hebrew  plagued 
Egypt  with  bloody  waters,  frogs,  lice,  flies,  murrain,  emerods, 
hail,  locusts  and  pestilence,  parted  the  Red  Sea,  and  caused 
water  to  flow  from  a  rock  in  the  desert.  That  by  the  same 
art  Joshua  stayed  the  Sun,  that  Elijah  called  down  fire  from 
Heaven  and  raised  the  dead  to  life,  that  Daniel  muzzled  the 
lions,  and  the  three  children  escaped  destruction  in  a  fiery 
furnace.  It  was  confidently  claimed  that  Solomon  excelled 
in  magical  arts  and  that  his  power,  wealth,  and  eminence 
were  secured  by  their  exercise;  moreover  the  experience  of 
King  Saul  at  En-Dor,  with  the  woman  that  had  a  familiar 
spirit,  and  the  appearance  of  the  Eastern  Magi  at  Bethlehem, 
were  accounted  incontestable  proofs  of  the  highest  activity 
in  occult  science. 

Many  of  the  extravagant  superstitions  about  the  magical 
properties  of  natural  objects  that  obtained  credence  in 
Rudolph's  reign  might  have  been  traced  to  the  famous 
writings  of  Pliny.  For  example,  Pliny  stated  that  the 
precious  diamond  placed  on  an  anvil  resisted  the  stoutest 
blows  of  a  hammer,  or  put  in  a  furnace  withstood  the 
intensest  heat,  but  that  if  steeped  in  the  blood  of  a  he-goat 

169 


it  is  "forced  to  yield  the  gauntlet,"  and  may  then  be  readily 
broken  into  pieces.  The  mere  assertion  of  such  an  absurdity 
by  so  high  an  authority  was  sufficient  to  establish  its 
credibility ;  the  idea  of  testing  the  statement  by  experiment 
was  not  deemed  necessary  nor  advisable,  that  step  remained 
to  be  taken  by  another  generation  under  the  Baconian  philo- 
sophy. Pliny's  "Natural  History"  was  responsible  for  a  mass 
of  superstitions  tenaciously  held  by  the  common  people;  it 
was  gravely  maintained  that:  "There  be  certain  seeds  within 
the  eyes  of  cocks  which  shining  and  shooting  into  the  eyes 
of  lions  do  so  pierce  and  strike  their  eyelids,  and  do  inflict 
upon  them  such  pain  and  grief,  that  they  are  constrained  to 
fly  from  them,  being  not  able  to  abide  or  to  endure  the  sight 
of  a  cock."  It  was  also  asserted  that  the  "eyes  of  a  dragon 
dried,  pulverized  and  incorporated  with  honey  into  a  liniment 
caused  those  who  anointed  themselves  all  over  with  it  to 
sleep  securely  without  dread  .of  night  spirits."  In  these  and 
similar  instances  the  rarity  of  the  animals,  or  the  scarcity  of 
the  ingredients  made  experimental  tests  very  difficult;  this 
was  the  case  also  with  the  following  recipe  for  a  wonder- 
working amulet:  "Take  the  tail  and  head  of  a  dragon,  the 
hair  growing  on  the  forehead  of  a  lion  with  a  little  also  of 
his  marrow,  the  froth  that  a  horse  foameth  at  the  mouth 
who  had  won  the  victory  and  prize  in  running  a  race,  and 
the  nails  besides  of  a  dog's  feet,  bind  all  these  together  with 
a  piece  of  leather  made  of  a  red  deer-skin  with  the  sinews 
partly  of  a  stag  and  partly  of  a  fallow  deer,  one  with  an- 
other in  alternate  courses;  carry  this  about  you  and  it  will 
give  you  victory."  (Pliny.) 

Forty-three  years  before  Rudolph  ascended  the  throne  of 
Germany  a  work  was  published  that  did  much  to  elevate 
magic  in  the  opinions  of  philosophers,  and  exerted  immense 
influence  on  popular  beliefs  for  more  than  two  centuries,  this 

17O 


was  a  treatise  on  "Occult  Philosophy"  written  by  Henry 
Cornelius  Agrippa.  This  celebrated 

"Man  of  Parts 
Who  dived  into  the  Secrets  of  all  Arts," 

was  Knight  of  the  Empire,  Doctor  of  both  Laws,  and  held 
the  office  of  Secretary  to  Maximilian  I.,  and  of  Councillor  to 
Charles  V.  He  exercised  the  callings  of  physician,  lawyer, 
soldier,  philosopher,  historian,  conjurer,  astrologer  and 
alchemist  at  Cologne,  Dole,  Pavia,  Metz,  Freiburg,  Brussels, 
Bonn,  Lyons  and  Grenoble,  and  in  every  place  he  commanded 
the  highest  esteem  of  the  learned  and  the  influential.  He 
wrote  that  "natural  magic  is  the  active  part  of  natural 
philosophy  which  performs  those  things  that  are  above 
human  reason.  Magicians,  the  most  active  inquirers  into 
nature,  oftentimes  produce  effects  before  the  time  ordained 
by  Nature,  which  therefore  the  Vulgar  take  for  Miracles, 
when  they  are  notwithstanding  only  natural  operations." 

Agrippa  combined  real  erudition  with  gross  superstition; 
he  was  acquainted  with  the  electrical  properties  of  amber 
and  of  jet,  and  with  the  magnetic  power  of  the  lodestone, 
and  yet  he  asserts  that  the  latter  power  is  destroyed  by 
onions.  In  another  passage  he  exhibits  his  wisdom  and 
his  folly  thus:  "It  is  well  known  that  there  is  a  certain 
virtue  in  the  lodestone  by  which  it  attracts  iron  and  that 
the  diamond  by  its  presence  doth  take  away  that  virtue;  so 
also  the  stone  asbestus  being  once  fired  is  never  extinguished. 
A  carbuncle  shines  in  the  dark;  the  stone  aetites  put  above 
the  young  fruit  of  woman  or  of  plants  strengthens  them,  but 
being  put  under  weakeneth.  The  jasper  stauncheth  blood,  the 
little  fish  echeneis  stops  ships;  rhubarb  expels  choler;  the 
liver  of  the  chameleon  burned  raiseth  showers  and  thunders ; 
the  stone  heliotrope  dazzles  the  sight  and  makes  him  that 
wears  it  invisible;  the  stone  synochitis  brings  up  infernal 

171 


ghosts;  and  the  stone  anachitis  makes  images  of  the  gods 
appear." 

This  prince  of  occult  philosophers  gave  minute  details  for 
invoking  good  and  evil  spirits  and  ingenuously  explained 
why  men  conjure  with  demons  rather  than  with  angelic 
spirits;  he  wrote:  "Good  Angels  seldom  appear  being  only 
attendant  on  the  commands  of  God,  and  not  vouchsafing  to 
become  known  save  to  upright  and  holy  men ;  but  evil  spirits 
submit  themselves  more  willingly  to  the  invocations  of  men, 
falsely  assuming  to  themselves  and  counterfeiting  Divinity, 
always  ready  to  deceive,  and  delighting  to  be  adored  and 
worshipped." 

Professional  necromancers  pretended  to  possess  the  power 
of  conferring  with  the  spirits  of  dead  persons,  and  controlling 
the  weather,  raising  storms  at  will;  they  sold  potions  and 
philtres  enabling  the  owner  to  understand  the  language  of 
birds,  to  secure  love  of  fair  women,. to  transform  their  enemies 
into  cattle,  (even  as  Nebuchadnezzar  became  an  ox),  and  to 
impart  the  power  of  the  dreaded  "evil  eye";  to  obtain  the 
disgusting  ingredients  of  these  draughts  and  pills  they  were 
accused  of  strangling  infants,  of  robbing  cemeteries  of  their 
corpses ;  they  were  believed  to  compound  poisonous  powders 
for  criminal  purposes;  and  they  were  always  thought  to 
have  entered  into  suicidal  compacts  with  Satan. 

Popular  belief  peopled  the  earth  with  hobgoblins,  the  fire 
with  salamanders,  the  air  with  fiends  and  the  water  with 
river  and  lake  spirits.  Children  were  terrified  by  their  nurses 
with  stories  of  "an  ugly  devil  having  horns  on  his  head,  fire 
in  his  mouth,  and  a  tail  in  his  breech,  eyes  like  a  bason, 
fangs  like  a  dog,  claws  like  a  bear,  a  skin  like  a  nigger,  and 
a  voyce  roaring  like  a  lion."  And  young  children  were  so 
affrighted  with  "bul-beggars,  spirits,  witches,  urchins,  elves, 
hags,  fairies,  satyrs,  pans,  faunes,  syrens,  Kit-with-the-can- 

172 


stick,  tritons,  centaures,  dwarfes,  gyants,  imps,  calcars, 
Robin  Goodfellow,  the  spoorn,  the  mare,  the  man  in  the  oak, 
the  hell-wain,  the  fire  drake,  the  puckle,  Tom  Thumbe,  hob- 
goblin, Tom  Tumbler,  boneless  and  such  other  bugs,"  that 
they  became  fearful  of  their  own  shadows. 

Superstitions  connected  with  animals  and  plants  were 
innumerable  and  amazing  in  their  folly.  The  imaginary 
basilisk  was  thought  to  be  deadly  to  all  serpents  and  to 
mankind,  killing  the  former  with  its  breath  and  the  latter 
with  a  mere  glance  of  its  eyes;  persons  carrying  its  black 
blood  about  them  obtained  gracious  favors  from  princes  and 
great  potentates,  as  well  as  immunity  from  diseases  and  from 
witchcraft.  The  superstition  of  the  mandrake  has  been  nar- 
rated at  length  by  an  early  writer:  "The  mandragora,  or 
alrun,  is  a  very  rare  herb  that  can  be  hardly  found  except 
below  the  gallows  where  a  pure  youth  has  been  hanged.  He 
who  seeks  the  herb  should  know  that  its  lower  part  has  the 
shape  of  a  human  being,  and  that  its  upper  part  consists  of 
broad  leaves  and  yellow  flowers.  When  it  is  torn  from  the 
soil  it  sighs,  shrieks  and  moans  so  piteously,  that  he  who 
hears  it  must  die.  To  find  it  one  should  go  out  before  sun- 
rise on  a  Friday  morning,  after  having  stopped  his  ears  with 
cotton,  wax  or  pitch,, and  take  with  him  a  black  dog  with- 
out a  single  white  hair.  The  sign  of  the  cross  must  be  made 
three  times  over  the  mandrake,  and  the  soil  dug  up  carefully 
all  around  it  so  that  it  be  attached  only  by  fine  rootlets. 
Then  tie  it  by  a  string  to  the  tail  of  the  dog  and  coax  him 
forward  by, a  piece  of  meat;  the  dog  will  pull  out  the  man- 
drake, but  he,  falls  struck  dead  by  the  terrible  shriek  of  the 
mandrake.  Then  'take  it  home  wash  in  red  wine,  wrap  it  in 
red  and  white  silk,  lay  it  in  a  shrine,  wash  it  again  every 
Friday  and  dress  it  in  a  white  frock.  It  will  reveal  to  its 
owner  hidden  things  and  future  events,  and  procure  for  him 

173 


the  friendship  of  all  men.  A  silver  coin  deposited  with  it  in 
the  evening  will  be  doubled  before  morning ;  still  the  coin 
must  not  be  too  large  in  size.  If  you  buy  the  mandrake  it 
remains  with  you,  throw  it  where  you  will,  until  you  sell  it 
again ;  if  you  keep  it  till  your  death  you  must  depart  with 
it  to  hell,  but  it  can  be  sold  only  for  a  lower  price  than  it 
was  bought,  therefore  he  who  has  bought  it  with  the  smallest 
existing  coin  is  irretrievably  lost." 

These  and  similar  gross  superstitions  wielded  a  disastrous 
influence  on  the  people,  exciting  their  timidity,  and  distrust 
of  neighbors  and  friends ;  but  they  were  innocent  compared 
with  the  horrible  atrocities  that  flowed  from  the  deeply  seated 
belief  in  witchcraft.  Supported  by  the  highest  authority  of 
the  Church,  Pope  John  XXII.;  systematized  by  the  diabolical 
ingenuity  of  Sprenger  and  his  colleagues  in  the  abominable 
"Malleus  Maleficarum,"  or  Witches  Hammer;  prosecutions 
were  conducted  in  every  town  and  village,  and  tens  of 
thousands  of  wretched  persons  became  victims  of  indescribable 
cruelty  culminating  in  death  at  the  stake.  Women  being  more 
1  'covetous  of  the  knowledge  of  secrets"  were  the  especial 
object  of  the  malevolent  persecutions. 

Even  the  members  of  Rudolph's  court  were  not  exempt 
from  the  inquisitorial  methods  of  witch-finders,  two  of  them 
being  accused  of  sorcery  and  evil  designs  against  the  person 
of  his  Majesty.  In  1611,  an  imperial  chaplain  was  said  to 
have  named  his  dog  Matthias,  after  Rudolph's  brother,  who 
was  at  that  time  scheming  to  displace  him  on  the  throne, 
and  that  this  dog  was  to  be  killed  in  order  that  a  similar 
fate  might  overtake  the  reigning  monarch.  The  second  to  be 
charged  with  exercising  witchcraft  was  an  alchemist  named 
Hauser,  who  had  assisted  Rudolph  in  necromantic  operations. 
He  was  accused  of  stealing  a  handkerchief  from  the  Emperor's 
linen  at  the  laundry  and  conjuring  evil  with  it  to  his  Majesty's 

174 


hurt.  The  trial  of  these  two  men  lasted  several  months, 
Hauser  was  tortured  on  the  rack,  and  although  he  established 
his  innocence,  the  judge  fined  him  and  banished  him  from 
Bohemia. 

Early  in  the  first  decade  of  the  seventeenth  century  dis- 
quieting rumors  reached  Rudolph  concerning  the  attitude  of 
his  brother  Matthias,  who  began  to  manifest  political  aspir- 
ations that  treatened  to  undermine  the  throne.  Matthias 
sought  the  friendship  of  Rudolph's  bitterest  enemies  in  the 
Empire,  and  his  name  began  to  be  mentioned  as  a  possible 
claimant  for  the  crown.  Rudolph's  privy  councillors  could 
not,  or  would  not,  give  the  uneasy  monarch  satisfactory 
advice,  and  he  sought  private^  to  learn  the  future  from  the 
fortune-tellers  attached  to  his  court ;  the  latter  warily  replied 
to  his  inquiries  with  such  oracular  sayings  as : 

"Te  digna  sequere."1 

or  with  the  couplet: 

"Si  fortuna  juvat,  caveto  tolli ; 
Si  fortuna  tonat,  caveto  mergi."2 

The  Emperor  cautiously  sounded  the  ecclesiastics,  but 
they  offered  spiritual  consolation  and  moral  advice  which 
only  irritated  his  hypochondriacal  temperament  and  failed 
to  remove  the  deep-seated  anxiety.  Ominous  reports  from 
Eastern  provinces  of  the  Empire  seemed  to  confirm  the  dis- 
loyalty of  Matthias,  and  the  superstitious  Rudolph  intent  on 
penetrating  the  future  turned  to  the  unlawful  art  of  black 
magic  as  a  last  resort.  At  that  time  the  master  in  necro- 
mancy having  the  highest  reputation  was  the  unscrupulous 
Doctor  Leonhard  Vychperger  von  Erbach,  already  known  to 
the  Emperor  as  an  assistant  in  his  alchemical  laboratory. 
After  the  Emperor  had  taken  him  into  his  confidence,  he  dis- 

1  "Follow  what  is  worthy  of  thee." 

2  "If  fortune  smiles  upon  you,  be  not  elated; 

And  if  she  frowns,  be  not  cast  down." 

175 


cussed  with  him  the  advantages  of  several  forms  of  divi- 
nation; von  Erbach  explained  that  astragalomancy  or 
divination  by  inscribed  tablets,  cephalomancy  or  divination 
by  an  ass's  head  (a  method  in  vogue  among  the  Jews), 
molybdomancy  and  alectryomancy  were  too  trifling  processes 
hardly  appropriate  for  the  momentous  issue  at  stake;  that 
coscinomancy  and  clidomancy  were  designed  chiefly  to  detect 
common  thieves;  and  that  a  combination  of  geomancy,  sero- 
mancy,  pyromancy,  and  hydromancy,  or  divination  by  the 
four  elements  earth,  air,  fire  and  water,  might  be  efficacious ; 
but  he  recommended  that  an  appeal  should  be  made  through 
Demonomancy.  Of  the  latter  the  magician  gave  an  obscure 
account  in  mystical  language,  which  aroused  the  Emperor's 
curiosity,  his  fears  and  his  hopes. 

On  the  appointed  night,  a  fortnight  after  this  interview, 
the  Emperor  accompanied  by  a  trusted  and  armed  valet-de- 
chambre,  was  driven,  as  directed  by  the  artful  pretender  in 
devil's  lore,  to  a  secluded  spot  in  the  hill  country  at  the  far 
side  of  a  forest  well  known  to  his  Majesty  through  occa- 
sional hunting  expeditions.  Having  descended  a  rugged 
ravine  bounded  by  vertical  walls  that  nearly  touched  over- 
head, they  alighted  near  the  mouth  of  a  deep  cavern,  the 
entrance  to  which  "was  curiously  concealed  by  natural  ob- 
stacles, and  which  the  Emperor  could  not  remember  having 
before  seen.  Most  inopportunely  a  violent  thunderstorm 
broke  over  their  heads,  the  Emperor  took  refuge  in  a  dimly 
lighted,  rather  frail  tent,  and  awaited  a  signal  from  Dr.  von 
Erbach  who  had  disappeared  within  the  cavern. 

In  about  half  an  hour,  which  seemed  much  longer  to 
Rudolph,  the  unmusical  clang  of  a  Chinese  gong,  an  instru- 
ment then  almost  unknown  in  the  country,  issued  from  the 
cave,  and  his  Majesty  fearlessly  entered,  leaving  his  attendant 
in  the  tent.  At  the  end  of  a  curved  gallery,  lit  by  torches 

176 


whose  smoke  already  began  to  befoul  the  air,  the  Emperor 
came  suddenly  upon  a  startling  scene.  The  cavern  widened 
out  and  the  roof  rose  aloft ;  on  its  walls  hung  black  banners 
of  coarse  material  on  which  were  painted  in  divers  colors 
kabbalistic  figures,  symbols  of  the  planets,  signs  of  the  zodiac, 
and  geometrical  designs  of  goetic  power;  and  in  gilt  letters 
were  the  names  of  the  infernal  demons  who  presided  over  the 
seven  days  of  the  week,  the  twelve  hours  of  the  day  and  the 
twelve  hours  of  the  night.  Pendant  from  the  roof  in  front 
of  each  banner,  a  sconce  of  three  tapers  threw  a  lurid  light ; 
fastened  to  the  walls  between  the  banners  were  dried  snakes 
with  glittering  scales,  weird  looking  stuffed  bats  with  out- 
spread wings,  Persian  owls,  an  Ethiopian  salamander  and 
an  African  chimpanzee,  as  well  as  skeletons  of  small  rare 
animals  painted  white  to  enhance  the  ghastly  effect. 

In  one  of  the  foci  of  the  elliptical  cave  stood  upright  an 
Egyptian  mummy-case  through  whose  eyesockets  shone  a 
red  light,  and  on  the  top  of  which  rested  a  grinning  skull 
with  cross-bones.  In  the  other  focus  of  the  ellipse  stood  an 
antique  bronze  tripod,  resembling  that  of  the  Pythian  priestess 
at  Delphi,  supporting  a  brasier  in  which  were  a  few  live 
coals.  In  the  space  between  the  mummy-case  and  the  tripod 
were  three  small  triangular-topped  tables  covered  with  red 
cloth,  on  which  lay  tongs  and  bellows,  several  strangely 
shaped  knives,  a  two-edged  sword  of  Oriental  manufacture, 
a  silver  basin,  and  a  number  of  stringed  musical  instruments, 
some  capsules  filled  with  pyrotechnic  powders,  besides  some 
nondescript  little  articles  whose  uncouth  appearance  did  not 
reveal  their  design ;  they  were  wonder-working  talismans  and 
amulets.  Beneath  one  of  the  smaller  tables  was  a  covered 
basket. 

On  an  elevated  dais  placed  against  the  roughly  hewn 
wall  facing  the  middle  table  was  an  armchair  covered  with 

177 


a  bear-skin,  the  bloody  edges  of  which  showed  that  the  ani- 
mal had  been  very  recently  killed ;  on  this  the  Emperor  seated 
himself  and  calmly  awaited  the  appearance  of  the  necroman- 
cer. Soon  the  cave  resounded  with  weird  sounds,  unmusical 
yet  rythmical,  punctuated  by  the  beat  of  an  African  tom- 
tom, and  the  priest  of  Satan  entered  from  an  adjoining  pas- 
sage which  had  been  screened  from  view  by  one  of  the  ban- 
ners ;  he  was  clothed  in  a  flowing  robe  of  scarlet  velvet  em- 
broidered in  black  with  pentacles,  abracadabra,  and  geomet- 
rical figures;  around  his  waist  was  a  girdle  of  yellow  silk, 
and  on  his  head  he  wore  a  tall  pointed  cap  of  the  same 
color;  he  carried  in  his  hand  a  golden  rod  around  which  a 
live  green  serpent  was  twined,  the  head  of  the  hideous  ani- 
mal moving  restlessly.  He  was  accompanied  by  two  exor- 
cists in  sombre  black,  their  faces  hidden  by  white  linen  masks 
surmounted  by  black  cowls ;  one  of  them  swung  an  incense 
burner  from  which  arose  dense  vapors  emitting  a  very  de- 
ceptive perfume,  at  first  agreeable  to  the  nostrils,  but  after 
a  little  time  benumbing  the  senses  of  those  not  fortified 
against  it  by  a  counterdraught ;  the  other  masque  bore  before 
him  a  wooden  tablet  in  a  gilt  frame,  on  which  was  painted 
a  mystical  diagram;  and  on  the  reverse  of  the  tablet  were 
inscribed  the  names: 

PHUL  ZAPH  NATALON 

being  those  of  the  demons  governing  the  week,  the  day,  and 
the  hour  in  which  the  necromantic  ceremonies  were  taking 
place. 

The  three  figures  advanced  silently  and  slowly  towards 
the  Emperor,  made  a  profound  obeisance  and  took  their  sta- 
tions, the  leader  before  the  tripod,  and  the  other  two  before 
the  triangular  tables.  Meanwhile  a  singular  medley  of  dis- 
cordant sounds  in  a  minor  key  pervaded  the  cavern  and  the 

178 


two   exorcists   began   to   chant  with  shrill  voices  and  rapid 
utterance  the  following  adjuration  in  ancient  Sanscrit : 

Atakan,  patakan,  bawan,  bichawa, 
Khombadi  khaw,  dir  khaw. 
Han  mat  ghode,  tayam  tuyam, 
Sut,  luk,  but,  luk. 

To  which   their  leader   replied   in  a  deep  bass  that   echoed 
throughout  the  subterranean  vault: 

Ha  hoo,  ta  too! 

Pooska,  bramina,  padala   stoo! 

During  this  recitative,  and  others  that  folio  wed,  the  con- 
jurers threw  on  to  the  live  coals  in  the  brasier  certain  secret 
chemical  powders  which  flashed  with  green  and  again  with 
red  flames ;  they  touched  the  strings  of  the  musical  instru- 
ments eliciting  a  sort  of  accompaniment  to  their  chants ;  and 
they  made  many  flexions  of  the  body  and  gestures  with  the 
arms,  swaying  themselves  sideways  with  an  ever  increasing 
rapidity  that  was  terrifying  to  behold. 

At  a  sign  from  the  chief,  magician,  his  assistants  took 
from  the  covered  basket  a  live,  black  cat  with  no  white  hairs, 
and  held  it  towards  him ;  grasping  one  of  the  curved  knives, 
he  dextrously  plunged  it  into  the  animal's  quivering  body, 
which  he  held  over  the  silver  basin  until  it  was  partly  filled 
with  the  life  blood  of  the  sacrifice;  the  carcass  was  dropped 
into  an  ashpit  at  the  foot  of  the  brasier,  and  the  bowl  of 
warm  blood  was  placed  on  the  central  table. 

Again  the  cavern  resounded  with  the  peculiar  chant : 

Up,  ilp,  ilmeden, 
Selug,  silug,  silmeden ; 
Yel  khos,  kepene ; 
Kepen  ichini  bazar, 
Ichinde  ayoo  gezer, 
Ayoo  beni  khookhoode, 
Khoolakheme,  sarghade! 
Alaghena  akh  dedi, 
Chalaghena  chekh  dedi. 

179 


More  coals  and  chemicals  being  added  to  the  fire,  it  blazed 
up  afresh,  illuminating  the  gruesome  scene  which  was  begin- 
ning to  impress  the  hitherto  impassive  Emperor  as  truly 
infernal.  Suddenly  the  red-robed  necromancer  seized  the  Oriental 
sword  and  after  making  several  passes,  he  stepped  quickly  to 
the  mummy -case  and  touched  with  the  point  of  the  blade  a 
secret  spring  near  the  top  of  the  ancient  coffin;  immediately 
the  lid  flew  open  and  a  diabolical  personage  sprang  forth ; 
his  lithe  body  was  covered  by  a  skin-tight  suit  of  mail  the 
scales  of  which  were  of  a  brilliant  metallic  green,  reflecting 
the  red  light  from  the  brasier  with  dazzling  effect;  his  head 
was  encased  in  a  metal  helmet  of  the  same  greenish  lustre; 
his  face  emitted  luminous  rays,  like  an  Aurora,  over  which 
played  thin  white  vapors,  an  effect  produced  by  having 
anointed  his  visage  with  an  oil  containing  phosphorus  in 
solution,  a  secret  preparation  quite  unknown  to  the  now 
trembling  Emperor.  The  green  demon  moved  forward  with 
a  serpentine,  gliding  motion,  thanks  to  little  wooden  rollers 
fastened  to  his  boots,  and  slipped  both  his  hands  in  the  bowl 
of  warm,  tmclotted  blood ;  he  then  drew  near  to  the  shrink- 
ing monarch.  At  this  moment  the  lights  in  the  sconces 
suddenly  became  extinguished,  the  Chinese  gong  emitted  its 
strident,  horrible  din  without  ceasing,  and  the  demon  held 
in  his  bloody  hands  up  to  Rudolph's  gaze  an  ebony  tablet,  on 
which  he  wrote  in  letters  of  fire,  by  the  aid  of  a  bit  of  phos- 
phorus concealed  in  a  hollow  wand,  these  words : 


Rudolph  at  last  succombed  to  diabolical  mummery  that 
was  well  devised  to  terrify  the  most  stoical ;  the  noxious  va- 

180 


TEYN    KIRCHE. 


pors  arising  from  the  censer  that  disturbed  the  action  of  the 
lungs  and  heart,  the  wierd  sounds  that  distressed  the  ears, 
and  the  infernal  sights  that  dazzled  the  eyes,  combined  to 
overwhelm  the  resolute,  cold-blooded  man  of  experience ;  his 
eyes  drooped,  his  features  blanched,  and  he  fell  backward  in 
a  semi-unconscious  condition.  Instantly  the  performers 
dropped  their  robes,  tore  off  their  masks,  relit  a  sconce,  and 
rolled  the  dais  out  of  the  cavern  into  the  fresh  air  at  its 
mouth,  supporting  meanwhile  the  Emperor's  head  with  great 
gentleness.  Revived  by  the  cool  night  air,  as  well  as  by  a 
stimulating  draught  given  him  to  swallow,  Rudolph  soon 
recovered  himself  and  as  if  ashamed  of  his  weakness,  assumed 
imperial  dignity,  and  ordered  his valet-de-chambre  to  drive  him 
back  to  the  Hradschin.  The  storm  had  passed,  the  moon 
and  stars  shone  brightly,  and  the  return  was  accomplished 
without  incident,  the  gate  keepers  and  sentinels  prudently 
keeping  to  themselves  their  surprise  at  the  small  escort  with 
which  the  monarch  arrived;  as  he  alighted  the  clock  in  the 
steeple  of  St.  George's  Church  struck  two. 

Rudolph  never  afterward  alluded  to  his  adventure. 


181 


CHAPTER  XVIL 
RUDOLPH  AT  WORK. 

"The  business  that  we  love,  we  rise  betimes 
And  go  to  it  with  delight." 

Shakespeare. 

S  "Sacred  Caesarean  Majesty,"  looking  uncommonly 
genial  and  alert,  sat  in  a  wooden,  straight-backed 
chair  by  a  table  near  a  window,  in  a  small,  plainly 
furnished  apartment  of  the  royal  palace ;  at  a  desk 
piled  high  with  papers  was  his  private  secretary,  Doctor 
Michael  Maier,  preparing  to  present  to  the  Emperor  for  his 
consideration  reports,  petitions,  and  decrees  of  national  im- 
portance. Rudolph  had  that  morning  informed  his  secretary 
that  he  felt  inclined  to  dispose  of  some  of  the  accumulated 
business,  and  the  Doctor  was  only  too  happy  to  take  advan- 
tage of  so  rare  a  frame  of  mind. 

The  imperial  secretary  laid  on  the  table  before  his  Majesty 
several  papers  of  minor  importance,  the  contents  of  which 
he  had  '  previously  approved  and  which  only  required  the 
official  signature  of  the  monarch  to  become  laws,  but  Rudolph 
brushed  them  aside  and  remarked,  he  was  not  quite  prepared 
to  attach  his  name  and  seal.  The  secretary  then  proposed 
to  submit  some  reports  from  army  officers  of  high  rank  sta- 
tioned on  the  Turkish  frontier,  and  began  to  read  one  of  the 
papers,  when  Rudolph  quietly  said  "Enough,"  and  ordered 

182 


the  report  filed.  Appeals  from  the  Burgomasters  of  several 
cities  in  the  Eastern  provinces  asking  compensation  for  pro- 
perty destroyed  by  riotous  soldiers,  requests  for  privileges  from 
noblemen  holding  high  offices,  complaints  by  Catholic  digni- 
taries of  encroachments  by  Protestants,  protests  from  Lu- 
theran bodies  against  oppression  by  the  Jesuits,  decrees  pro- 
posed by  the  Imperial  Chamber  and  requiring  the  Emperor's 
consent,  were  successively  brought  to  the  attention  of  Ru- 
dolph, who  showed  impatience,  nonchalance  and  irritation 
according  to  the  subject  involved.  He  would  neither  sanction 
nor  reject  any  document;  some  were  too  weighty  for  present 
consideration,  others  were  too  trifling,  others  still  were  not 
appropriate  to  the  occasion,  and  the  secretary  began  to  feel 
discouraged  when  he  mentioned  the  receipt  of  a  memorial 
from  Hugo  Blotius,  librarian  of  the  Imperial  Library  at 
Vienna;  Rudolph's  features  immediately  brightened  and  he 
ordered  it  read. 

Dr.  Blotius,  a  native  of  Delft,  an  eminent  lecturer  on 
jurisprudence  at  Strassburg,  had  been  appointed  Imperial 
Librarian  by  Maximilian  one  year  before  Rudolph  had  suc- 
ceeded to  the  throne,  and  was  the  first  to  have  that  title; 
the  Fleming  found  the  library  housed  in  the  Cloisters  of  the 
Minorites  and  in  a  condition  showing  ignorance  and  neglect. 
Under  his  care  the  collection  of  manuscripts  and  books  in- 
creased rapidly  in  number  and  value,  partly  through  gifts 
from  authors  and  scholars,  and  partly  by  purchase;  twenty- 
six  hundred  volumes  were  acquired  from  the  heirs  of  Johannes 
Sambucus,  the  Hungarian  physician,  historian,  archaeologist 
and  poet,  and  the  orderly  arrangement  of  this  considerable 
addition  cost  Blotius  and  his  assistants  much  thought  and 
labor. 

The  address  to  his  Majesty  written  by  Blotius  contained 
suggestions  for  increasing,  beautifying  and  improving  the 

183 


library,  grouped  tinder  three  headings.  First,  means  of  im- 
proving the  library  without  expense.  Under  this  caption 
Blotius  recommended  that  the  law  requiring  copies  of  books 
to  be  deposited  in  the  library  by  their  authors  (an  old  regu- 
lation in  Rudolph's  day)  should  be  more  strictly  enforced; 
also  that  the  custom  of  presenting  to  private  libraries  books 
belonging  to  the  royal  collection  should  be  discontinued ;  and 
thirdly,  that  the  return  of  books  loaned  to  scholars  should 
be  insisted  upon.  The  library  had  lost,  he  wrote,  a  great 
many  volumes  through  the  carelessness  of  borrowers,  some- 
times the  books  were  retained  by  the  borrowers  until  death 
and  returned  by  their  heirs,  if  returned  at  all.  II.  Proposals 
for  increasing  and  improving  the  library  with  small  expen- 
diture. Of  books  printed  in  foreign  countries  only  the  most 
useful  and  necessary  ones  by  eminent  authors  should  be  pur- 
chased ;  many  new  books  ought  to  he  bound  and  some  quite 
worn  out  should  be  repaired.  The  library  building  ought  to 
be  made  attractive  by  the  purchase  of  canvasses  for  decorat- 
ing its  walls,  and  of  easel  pictures  by  celebrated  artists. 
These  improvements  Blotius  hoped  to  accomplish  by  an  an- 
nual outlay  of  three  hundred  gulden.  III.  The  third  heading 
in  the  memorial  dealt  with  the  qualifications  of  a  librarian. 
He  should  hold  no  other  office,  he  should  be  skilled  in  lan- 
guages, upright,  faithful,  industrious,  enterprising,  not  poor, 
not  superstitious,  and  a  friend  of  science  and  of  nature ;  it 
would  be  well  also  if  the  librarian  was  a  nobleman  and 
clothed  with  imperial  dignity  and  authority,  so  that  when 
travelling  on  business  he  could  have  unrestricted  admission 
to  libraries  and  institutions  in  every  city,  for  not  only  the 
common  people,  but  even  the  gentry  esteem  a  man  in  propor- 
tion to  the  splendor  of  his  attire  and  the  dignity  of  his  honor- 
able titles.  The  court  librarian  ought  to  be  a  Privy  Councillor, 
and  if  not  of  a  noble  family  he  should  be  raised  to  a  high  rank. 

184 


The  memorial  filled  twenty-four  folios  and  the  secretary 
thus  condensed  its  contents  with  rapidity.  Rudolph  listened 
attentively  and  smiled  in  a  satirical  manner  at  the  ingenious 
way  in  which  Blotius  tried  by  impersonal  statements  to  get 
himself  ennobled;  his  Majesty,  however,  ordered  that  one 
thousand  gold  gulden  be  paid  annually  out  of  the  imperial 
treasury  for  the  increase  and  embellishment  of  the  library  at 
Vienna. 

This  item  having  been  disposed  of,  Dr.  Maier  took  the 
opportunity  of  making  a  personal  appeal  for  clemency  to- 
wards a  prisoner  in  Daliborka  Tower,  a  certain  George  Popel 
von  Lobkowitz,  who  had  been  immured  for  several  years,  on 
suspicion  of  being  the  author  of  a  scurrilous  pamphlet  vio- 
lently attacking  the  Emperor.^  No  sooner  had  Rudolph  heard 
the  cognomen  Lobkowitz,  than  his  face  showed  anger  and 
he  sternly  forbade  the  physician  to  again  mention  the  name 
of  his  enemy. 

Foiled  in  this  well  meant  effort  to  secure  justice,  Dr.  Maier 
next  presented  the  case  of  the  band  of  gipsies,  long  time  con- 
fined in  barracks  under  the  charge  of  Colonel  von  Podebrad, 
master  of  the  royal  mews.  He  reminded  the  Emperor  that 
Wenzel  Kubrik  and  sixteen  other  gipsies  had  been  arrested 
on  suspicion  of  poisoning  certain  imperial  horses,  and  that 
the  real  criminal  had  long  ago  met  his  deserts,  yet  the  gipsies 
were  still  restricted  of  their  liberty  and  an  expense  to  the 
state.  Anticipating  the  wish  of  his  Majesty  to  be  fully  in- 
formed of  the  character  of  the  prisoners,  he  had  obtained  a 
memorandum  from  the  distinguished  Oriental  traveller  Chris- 
topher Harant  von  Polzitz,  which  threw  much  light  on  the 
question;  furthermore  he  had  caused  the  band  to  be  exam- 
ined and  would,  if  desired,  submit  a  report  of  the  situation. 

Having  signified  his  willingness  to  consider  this  case 
Rudolph  listened  to  the  memorandum  of  Harant ;  this  stated 

185 


in  brief  that  the  people  known  as  Zingari,  or  Zigeuner,  call 
themselves  Egyptians,  and  say  they  are  condemned  to  wander 
up  and  down  the  earth  because,  when  the  Holy  Virgin  with  the 
Divine  Child  fled  from  the  cruel  Herod  into  Egypt,  the  people 
of  that  land  refused  them  hospitality.  In  every  country  they 
are  vagrants  who  occupy  themselves  in  fortune  telling,  sor- 
cery and  mischief  of  every  kind ;  those  in  Bohemia  are  great 
thieves  and  are  probably  Turkish  spies.  Whatever  may  have 
been  their  origin  they  fraternize  in  every  land  with  only  the 
lowest  of  the  rabble,  and  as  the  proverb  says :  ''Those  who  run 
with  wolves  must  howl  with  them."  Some  of  the  men  know 
how  to  make  superior  charcoal  and  excel  in  blacksmithing, 
others  are  good  judges  of  horses  and  very  sharp  at  a  bar- 
gain; the  women  practice  chiromancy,  juggling  and  non- 
sense that  has  an  evil  influence  on  the  people  with  whom 
they  come  in  contract ;  as  a  whole  they  are  good-for-nothing 
vagabonds  and  dangerous  to  the  state.-  The  disastrous  con- 
flagration that  destroyed  many  imperial  buildings  on  the 
Hradschin  in  1541,  was  thought  by  the  authorities  to  have 
been  started  by  gipsies  at  the  instigation  of  the  Turks,  with 
whom  as  enemies  of  Christianity  they  sympathize.  This  ca- 
lamity and  another  terrible  fire  that  nearly  destroyed  Konig- 
gratz,  with  other  suspicious  circumstances,  led  Ferdinand  I. 
to  issue  a  decree  forbidding  all  nobles,  knights,  cities  and 
people  to  harbor  the  vile  gipsies,  and  commanding  magis- 
trates to  send  bands  of  the  vagrants  from  one  district  to 
another  under  guard  until  they  crossed  the  borders  of  the 
Empire.  The  latter  part  of  this  mandate  was  not  carried 
out,  but  the  Egyptians  were  hunted  like  wild  beasts,  even 
women  and  children  were  ruthlessly  murdered,  so  that  seven 
years  later  Ferdinand  issued  another  decree,  ordering  that 
the  gipsies,  especially  the  women  and  children,  should  not  be 
killed  by  drowning  and  by  other  shameful  methods,  but  they 

186 


ought  to  be  employed  on  public  works  and  in  the  necessary 
labor  of  municipalities. 

So  far  the  memorandum  of  Harant,  and  Dr.  Maier  added 
he  thought  the  time  had  come  for  a  new  imperial  edict;  a 
stern  look  from  the  Emperor  reminded  the  Secretary  that 
his  Majesty  always  resented  any  suggestion  of  action  which 
might  forestall  the  imperial  will.  However,  Rudolph  called 
for  the  testimony  secured  by  questioning  the  famil}'  of  Kubrik, 
and  Dr.  Maier  continued. 

Though  claiming  Egyptian  origin  this  band,  which  em- 
braced representatives  of  four  generations,  had  wandered 
long  throughout  central  Europe  and  spoke  German,  Bohemian 
and  Romany;  they  said  they  learnd  the  Romany  from  their 
elders  and  found  it  better  than  the  Bohemian  language;  for 
bread  they  used  the  word  "meno,"  for  God  "mrodebl,"  for 
glass  "gevalin,"  and  curiously  enough  they  say  they  have  no 
word  for  thief!  Kubrik  said  the  family  was  Catholic  in  re- 
ligion, but  this  was  evidently  to  please  the  questioner.  Few 
of  them  could  name  their  birthplace,  one  boy  of  fifteen  years, 
when  asked  where  he  was  born,  replied  that  only  his  mother 
could  know  that;  few  could  tell  their  ages,  some  answered 
quite  falsely  and  others  said  they  were  not  in  the  habit  of 
counting  birthdays :  A  TDoy  who  was  asked  why  he  was  so 
strongly  sunburned,  replied:  ''Because  I  smear  my  face  with 
butter  and  expose  it  to  sun  in  order  to  be  hardened  against 
frost."  Members  of  the  family  gave  their  occupations  as  rope 
dancing,  gymnastic  feats,  doctoring  cattle  and  playing  come- 
dies; on  inquiring  about  the  comedies  they  said  they  played 
"The  King  of  Castile,"  "The  Execution  of  John  the  Baptist," 
"King  Herod,"  and  "Two  Brothers."  The  women  told  for- 
tunes by  examining  the  lines  in  the  hands,  but  had  to  con- 
fess their  art  had  not  warned  them  against  their  arrest ;  one 
old  hag  said:  "God  is  the  best  Prophet,"  and  a  young 

187 


woman  said:  "Fortune  telling  is  only  a  pretense;"  all  agreed 
that  men  could  not  learn  the  art. 

Doctor  Maier  ceased  speaking  and  was  directed  to  file 
the  documents;  not  long  after  the  Emperor  issued  a  decree 
banishing  all  gipsies  from  his  dominions,  which,  needless  to 
say,  was  not  successfully  accomplished. 

The  Secretary  then  presented  a  plea  for  commutation  of 
sentence  made  by  an  army  officer  accused  of  treason,  rather 
singularly  the  Emperor  instantly  acceeded  and  the  miserable 
man  was  spared  his  life  in  consideration  of  perpetual  impris- 
onment in  a  gloomy  cell. 

Rudolph  had  hitherto  showed  great  patience,  but  now  he 
turned  uneasily  in  his  chair  and  gazed  through  the  window 
at  the  beautiful  view  of  Prague,  the  closely  built  houses  with 
the  numerous  Church  spires  breaking  the  roof-line,  the  noble 
bridge  across  the  placid  Moldau,  the  fertile  fields  and  the  forest 
preserves  beyond;  he  then  arose  and  walked  to  the  desk  be- 
fore which  his  Secretary  sat,  and  noticing  a  rather  bulky 
document  from  which  a  seal  was  hanging,  remarked,  he 
would  examine  that  next;  during  the  reading  he  paced  the 
floor,  looking  down  upon  the  city  at  every  turn  near  the 
window.  The  paper  thus  selected  by  lot  as  it  were,  proved 
to  be  a  report  from  the  magnate  Heinrich  von  Waldstein, 
who  had  been  appointed  by  Rudolph  magistrate  in  the  dis- 
trict of  Jungbunzlau  with  special  authority  to  discover  and 
prosecute  witches ;  his  report,  divested  of  the  magniloquent 
inscription  and  stilted  language,  ran  as  follows: 

"That  terrible  curse  of  Satan,  witchcraft,  which  has 
proved  so  great  an  evil  in  the  past,  still  afflicts  many 
districts  of  Bohemia  in  spite  of  the  strenuous  efforts  of  the 
servant  of  your  Majesty;  although  the  rack  and  the  fiery 
stake  have  been  always  at  hand  to  suppress  those  holding 
converse  with  the  Devil,  many  kinds  of  infernal  sorcery 

188 


are  practiced  by  these  miserable  people,  who  are  of  both 
sexes  and  of  all  ages ;  though  old  women  are  the  most  fre- 
quently obsessed.  In  undertaking  to  carry  out  faithfully  the 
commands  of  your  Majesty  to  exterminate  this  evil,  your 
servant  has  been  hampered  by  a  mischievous  book  written 
by  the  Utraquist  pastor  Johann  Stelcar  Zeleyawsky  (Kniha 
Duchovni,  Praha,  1588);  in  this  work  the  impious  author 
denies  that  human  beings  have  power  to  raise  storms  of 
lightning,  thunder  and  hail,  to  enchant  herds  of  cattle  and 
flocks  of  sheep,  or  to  bewitch  their  enemies,  urging,  forsooth, 
that  those  accused  of  such  diabolic  deeds  should  be  treated 
mercifully  and  not  rigorously  as  the  laws  of  the  kingdom 
require.  Happily  these  abominable  notions  have  not  pene- 
trated very  deeply  the  minds  of  the  ruling  classes,  and  the 
book  is  being  now  suppressed. 

Your  servant  has  had  the  honor  to  investigate  several 
cases  of  witchcraft  and  to  bring  the  guilty  principals  to  trial; 
thanks  to  the  noble  invention  of  the  rack,  the  sacred  truth 
has  been  ascertained  generally  without  resort  to  other  per- 
missible tortures,  and  in  every  instance  justice  has  been  meted 
out  to  the  devils  in  human  shape. 

Your  Majesty's  loyal  subject,  the  well-born  Johann 
Beschin,  who  resides  on  his  estate  near  Swinna,  had  in  his 
service  a  pretty  maid  named  Marianne ;  she  fell  deeply  in  love 
with  her  handsome  young  master,  and  as  he  showed  com- 
plete indifference,  she  undertook  to  win  his  love  by  magical 
arts.  She  secured  a  few  hairs  from  his  head,  burned  some  of 
them  and  threw  the  ashes  into  his  wine  jug,  and  she  put  the 
rest  in  her  bed,  conjuring  them  also  with  infernal  formulas. 
These  facts  came  out  in  the  preliminary  trial,  and  she  was 
then  examined  on  the  rack,  as  is  customary  with  witches; 
confessing  her  infernal  power  she  was  sentenced  to  the  death 
prescribed  by  law. 

189 


A  few  months  ago  the  imperial  alum-mines  at  Komotau 
suddenly  began  to  yield  scanty  returns  and  the  precious 
alum -stone  diminished  also  in  quality ;  this  was  evidently  the 
work  of  a  malign  witch,  and  suspicion  being  directed  to  a 
poor,  aged  and  infirm  woman  of  low  estate,  she  was  duly 
examined  and  properly  executed  at  the  stake.  It  is  believed 
that  the  alum-mines  will  now  be  more  productive;  if  how- 
ever they  do  not  improve,  your  Majesty  can  rely  on  his 
servant  to  discover  other  witches  and  to  deal  legally  with 
them. 

At  Chrudim  another  event  of  interest  required  the  energy 
of  your  indefatigable  servant.  Frau  Dorothea  Wanura,  being 
left  a  widow  in  her  youth,  took  for  a  second  husband  an 
aged  nobleman  of  great  wealth,  but  in  wretched  health  and 
of  ungovernable  temper.  Before  long,  the  gay  young  wife, 
tired  of  her  nuptial  chains,  sought  release  and  consulted  three 
old  wise-women  who  advised  her  how  to  get  rid  of  her  old 
husband.  She  placed  a  piece  of  fresh  bread  in  the  bolster- 
case  of  her  husband's  bed  and  left  it  there  until  it  was  dry 
and  brittle,  but  it  failed  to  absorb  the  man's  vitality  as  had 
been  promised;  having  been  unsuccessful  in  this  and  other 
magical  practices,  and  being  urged  by  a  wicked  lover  to 
hasten,  she  resorted  to  active  poison,  her  husband  dying  after 
a  few  hours'  suffering.  The  affair  soon  became  known  and 
Dorothea  was  put  to  the  question;  confessing  all,  she  was 
buried  alive,  and  her  three  companions  in  witchcraft  were 
burned  at  the  stake;  thus  bringing  the  affair  to  a  most 
satisfactory  conclusion. 

Instances  in  which  the  witches  exercise  merely  malignant 
mischief,  such  as  drying  up  a  neighbor's  cows,  preventing 
fruit  trees  from  bearing,  blasting  corn-fields,  and  afflicting 
cattle  with  barrenness,  are  of  common  occurrence;  but  the 
vigilance  of  your  servant  never  fails  to  bring  the  guilty  to 

190 


justice,  in  accord  with  the  commands  of  God  and  the  laws 
of  the  Empire.  At  present  he  is  engaged  in  an  important 
investigation  at  Nimburg,  the  results  of  which  will  in  due 
time  be  communicated  to  your  Sacred  Caesarean  Majesty." 

During  the  reading  of  this  long  report  Rudolph  paced  the 
floor,  and  from  time  to  time  he  quietly  said  "Good,"  "Just," 
and  at  the  close  he  remarked  exultingly:  "A  noble  and 
honest  magistrate;  send  to  him  the  thanks  of  the  Emperor 
and  promise  that  his  advancement  shall  not  be  overlooked." 

Dr.  Maier  was  about  to  select  another  document  to  lay 
before  his  master,  when  he  was  sharply  interrupted  by  Ru- 
dolph who  said:  "No  more  business  to-day,  now  for  recrea- 
tion," and  ordered  him  to  send  for  Dionysius  Miseroni  with 
instructions  to  bring  for  his  inspection  the  latest  treasure 
received  for  the  imperial  museum. 

Rudolph  greeted  the  Curator  of  the  Cabinet  of  Curiosities 
with  cordiality  and  was  at  once  immensely  interested  in  the 
"sepulchral  lamp"  submitted  by  him;  Miseroni  began  to 
explain  the  origin  and  history  of  this  great  novelty  when  the 
Emperor  ordered  his  Secretary  to  write  down  the  words  of 
the  antiquarian,  and  to  place  a  fair  copy  in  the  library.  The 
manuscript  after  revision  read  as  follows : 

"The  lamp  which  I  have  had  the  good  fortune  to  secure 
for  the  Imperial  Cabinet  was  discovered  in  1539  at  Rome; 
it  was  found  in  the  subterranean  tomb  of  Tulliola,  the 
daughter  of  Cicero,  whose  death  he  laments  in  his  letters  to 
Servius  Sulpicius.  When  the  tomb  was  opened  the  body  ot 
the  young  woman  was  found  uncorrupted ;  her  flesh  was 
firm  and  the  skin  of  a  natural  color ;  her  tresses  were  bound 
with  a  small  plate  of  gold  curiously  chased  and  enamelled. 
On  the  wall  of  the  sepulchre  was  carved  the  inscription : 

TULLIOLA    FILI^B    MEJB, 

191 


and  above  the  sarcophagus  hung  this  lamp  burning  brightly. 
The  lamp  had  been  filled  with  an  unquenchable  oil  and  had 
been  lit  about  fifteen  hundred  years  before ;  according  to  some 
it  continued  to  burn  for  one  hour  and  three  quarters  after 
opening  the  tomb,  but  I  am  privately  informed  by  one  of  those 
present  at  the  discovery  that  it  became  extinguished  the  in- 
stant that  air  was  freely  admitted;  the  latter  statement  is 
more  credible  because  it  is  evident  that  the  miraculous  oil 
had  burned  only  in  the  absence  of  air. 

The  shrewd  dealer  in  antiquities,  who  obtained  posses- 
sion of  this  lamp,  thinking  to  impose  on  your  Majesty,  re- 
presented to  me  that  this  discovery  was  unique,  but  my 
extended  researches  in  archaeology  have  enabled  me  to  prove 
that  sepulchral  and  perpetual  lamps  were  known  to  the 
ancient  Romans.  That  most  illustrious  and  holy  Father  of 
the  Church,  St.  Augustine,  describes  the  lamp  in  the  Temple 
of  Venus  which  burned  perpetually ;  he  says,  "the  flame  ad- 
hered so  strongly  to  the  combustible  matter  that  neither 
wind,  rain  nor  tempests  could  extinguish  it,  though  contin- 
ually exposed  to  the  inclemency  of  the  seasons."  St.  Augustine 
conjectures  that  "the  inexhaustible  aliment  was  the  work  of 
demons,  who  wrought  the  infernal  wonder  in  order  to  blind 
the  pagans  completely  and  to  attach  them  to  the  worship  of 
the  infamous  goddess  worshipped  in  that  Temple."  But  your 
Majesty  has  knowledge  of  the  secrets  of  nature  far  greater 
then  was  possessed  by  the  Saint,  and  is  aware  that  the 
skilled  alchemists  employed  in  the  imperial  laboratories  could 
manufacture  the  wonder-oil  used  in  the  sepulchral  lamps  if 
such  were  the  imperial  will. 

My  investigations  further  show  that  discoveries  of  per- 
petual lamps  are  by  no  means  excessively  rare ;  about  800  A.  D. 
the  lamp  of  Pallas,  son  of  Evander,  whose  brave  deeds  were 
sung  by  Vergil,  was  discovered  near  Rome  where  it  had 

192 


burned  for  nearly  two  thousand  years;  Cassiodorus  wrote 
that  he  himself  made  perpetual  lamps  for  the  use  of  the  monks 
in  his  monastery  at  Viviers;  in  a  tomb  opened  at  Salerno 
the  lamp  was  missing,  having  been  removed  by  an  earlier 
explorer,  but  this  inscription  was  found  on  the  wall: — 

"Adieu,  Septima;  may  the  earth  lie  lightly  upon 
you ;  may  a  golden  soil  cover  the  ashes  of  him  who 
placed  in  this  tomb  an  ever- burning  lamp." 

Seventy-six  years  before  your  Majesty  ascended  the  im- 
perial throne,  another  notable  discovery  was  made  near 
Padua;  some  peasants  digging  to  a  considerable  depth 
opened  a  tomb  in  which  two  lamps  were  burning,  one  of 
silver  and  one  of  gold.  An  inscription  on  them  explained 
that  they  had  been  prepared  with  magical  skill  by  Maximus 
Olybius. 

In  the  reign  of  St.  Louis,  the  good  King  of  France,  there 
lived  in  Paris  a  certain  Rabbi  named  Jechiel,  who  was 
regarded  by  the  Jews  as  a  saint  and  by  Christians  as  a 
sorcerer;  he  possessed  a  lamp  that  gave  out  light  equal  to 
daylight  in  brilliancy,  which  required  no  oil  and  burned 
unceasingly.  But  its  most  remarkable  property  was  to  in- 
dicate to  Jechiel  the  character  of  his  visitors;  when  honest 
tradesmen,  or  people  of  noble  station,  came  at  night  to  knock 
at  his  door,  the  lamp  shone  brightly  as  usual,  whereas  when 
tricksters,  or  persons  of  evil  intent,  sought  admission  the 
lamp  grew  perceptibly  feeble  and  thus  warned  the  Jew  to 
bolt  his  door  against  the  intruders. 

The  most  recent  discovery  of  a  sepulchral  lamp  was  made 
in  the  dominions  of  your  Majesty.  Persons  digging  a  well 
near  Clumec  came  upon  a  stone  door  that  opened  into  a 
vault;  expecting  to  find  hidden  treasure  the  owner  of  the 
ground  forced  open  the  door  and  was  almost  blinded  by  a 
sudden  blaze  of  light.  The  light  issued  from  a  beautifully 

193 


designed  bronze  lamp  that  hung  before  the  statue  of  a  man 
in  armor  sitting  by  a  table  and  holding  a  truncheon  in  his 
right  hand.  The  proprietor  had  no  sooner  set  his  foot  within 
the  vault  than  the  statue  arose  from  its  seat,  and  on  the 
man's  taking  a  single  step  forward,  the  statue  stood  bolt 
upright  and  raised  the  truncheon.  The  man  ventured  to 
take  a  third  step  when  the  armed  figure,  with  a  furious  blow, 
broke  the  lamp  into  numberless  fragments  and  plunged  the 
vault  in  darkness.  The  proprietor  secured  torches  and  again 
entered  the  vault ;  he  found  the  statue  was  made  of  brass  and 
its  motions  were  directed  by  clockwork  connected  with  levers 
and  springs  concealed  beneath  the  stone  floor;  on  attempt- 
ing to  remove  the  statue  the  truncheon  beat  it  to  pieces. 

Of  the  many  sepulchral  and  perpetual  lamps  discovered 
this  beautiful  specimen,  now  placed  by  your  faithful  curator 
in  your  Majesty's  museum,  is  the  only  one  that  has  survived 
destruction." 

While  listening  to  Miseroni  Rudolph  forgot  his  fatigue 
and  as  soon  as  he  ceased  speaking  the  Emperor  hastened  to 
the  alchemical  laboratory  and  gave  orders  to  the  chief  chemist 
to  manufacture  without  delay  a  supply  of  inexhaustible  and 
unquenchable  lamp-oil. 


194 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 
RUDOLPH'S  SOVEREIGNTY  AND  DEATH. 

"In  Rudolph's  Landen,  weit  und  breit, 
Wuchs  drum  die  Unzufriedenheit. 
Oestreich  und  Ungarn  deshalb  gab  er 

Mathias,  seinem  Bruder. 

*  * 

* 

Der  Tod  nur  wahrte  ihn  davor, 
Dass  er  die  Kaiserkron'  verlor." 

IHEN  RUDOLPH  succeeded  to  the  throne  of  his  wise 
and  tolerant  father  Maximilian,  he  found  the  king- 
dom of  Bohemia  in  greater  civil  and  religious  peace 
than  it  had  enjoyed  for  a  century.  From  very 
early  times  the  inhabitants  of  Bohemia  had  manifested  pecu- 
liar aptitude  for  polemic  theology;  at  first  the  disputes 
were  confined  to  the  ecclesiastics  and  to  the  educated  nobil- 
ity, but  the  common  people  being  naturally  religious  joined 
in  the  prevailing  controversies  with  savage  earnestness ;  the 
unhappy  Hussite  war,  championed  by  the  brave  patriot 
Ziske,  had  ceased  a  whole  century  before  Rudolph's  reign  be- 
gan, but  the  country  had  never  been  entirely  free  from  intes- 
tine disturbances.  Under  Maximilian  Bohemia  enjoyed  com- 
parative peace,  and  had  Rudolph  understood  the  claims  of 
justice,  and  had  he  listened  to  reason  the  country  might  have 
prospered,  but  he  "inherited  all  the  ambition  of  his  house 
without  any  of  the  nobleness  of  his  father,  any  of  the  vigor 

195 


of  his  grandfather,  nor  any  of  the  dynastic  shrewdness  that 
had  elevated  his  family." 

Rudolph's  character  contrasted  strangely  with  that  of 
his  father;  "Maximilian  was  frank,  candid  and  manly;  he 
appreciated  the  dignity  of  truth,  he  was  fond  of  society, 
cheerful  in  conversation,  systematic  in  business  as  well  as 
patient  and  complacent  when  troublesome  problems  required 
his  attention."  Of  him  the  Bohemians  said:  ''We  are  as 
happy  under  his  government  as  if  he  were  our. father;  our 
privileges,  our  laws,  our  rights,  liberties  and  usages  are 
protected,  maintained,  defended  and  confirmed." 

Such  modicum  of  Maximilian's  good  traits  as  Rudolph 
inherited  were  modified  by  less  fortunate  ones  derived  from 
his  mother,  Mary  of  Austria,  who  was  Maximilian's  first 
cousin,  being  the  daughter  of  Charles  V.  She  inculcated  in 
her  son  "a  machine-like  devotion  that  found  religious  virtue 
in  the  scrupulous  observance  of  ceremonies  and  useless  mor- 
tifications." She  led  him  to  regard  his  confessor's  counsel  as 
an  oracle  that  could  neither  be  questioned  nor  disobeyed. 
Besides  this  tutelage  the  instruction  imparted  by  the  Jesuits 
to  the  youthful  prince  in  Spain  was  better  fitted  to  produce 
a  University  professor  than  a  monarch.  After  her  husband's 
death  Mary  retired  to  a  nunnery  in  Spain  where  she  remained 
till  her  life  ended  in  1603. 

Imbued  through  these  influences  with  intense  bigotry  and 
hatred  of  liberty  of  conscience,  Rudolph  had  not  long  been 
seated  on  his  father's  throne  when  he  began  to  frame  laws 
against  the  Protestants,  depriving  them  of  legal  rights,  clos- 
ing their  schools  and  places  of  worship,  expelling  their  min- 
isters and  granting  official  positions  exclusively  to  Catholics; 
such  edicts  as  these  embittered  the  lives  of  some  of  the  most 
sturdy  inhabitants  and  caused  them  to  hate  the  despotic 
ruler  of  their  destinies. 

196 


RUDOLPH    II. 


Religious  animosities,  which  had  begun  to  subside,  broke 
out  afresh,  and  the  Jesuits,  growing  bolder  as  they  acquired 
more  power,  induced  Rudolph  to  further  curb  the  liberties  of 
the  Protestants,  thereby  exasperating  many  of  his  best  sub- 
jects and  engendering  jealousy  and  hatred  among  all  ranks. 
Moreover,  feuds  between  the  Lutherans  and  Calvinists  divided 
the  Protestant  party  into  two  camps  arrayed  against  each 
other,  a  situation  of  which  the  Catholics  were  not  slow  to 
avail  themselves.  The  Order  founded  by  Loyola  seized  upon 
the  revival  in  art,  literature  and  science  to  accomplish  their 
schemes ;  they  secured  the  adhesion  of  Pontanus,  one  of  the 
Emperor's  poets  laureate,  and  he  became  a  most  eloquent 
and  zealous  preacher;  they  induced  the  wealthy  and  power- 
ful William  von  Rosenberg  to  establish  an  institution  for  the 
education  of  the  poor,  and  the  pupils  under  Jesuit  training 
became  active  in  propagating  the  policy  of  their  masters. 

The  principal  Protestant  body  in  the  kingdom  was  known 
as  "The Brethren",  or  "The Brotherhood";  in  the  religious  com- 
munities of  this  order  the  individual  members  were  expected  to 
earn  their  livelihood  by  the  work  of  their  hands  ;  all  being  on 
an  equal  footing,  even  the  clergy  were  expected  to  follow  the 
example  of  the  Apostolic  tentmaker.  This  charming  theory 
of  equality,  fraternity  and  liberty  was  however  disturbed  by 
the  admission  to  the  Brotherhood  of  certain  aristocratic  and 
opulent  magnates  whose  cooperation  in  resisting  their  ag- 
gressive opponents  was  of  worldly  advantage ;  dissensions 
within  the  Brotherhood  ensued  and  its  members  became  un- 
popular. Perceiving  this  the  Jesuit  party  urged  the  nobles  to 
drive  out  the  revolutionary  heretics  from  their  estates,  a 
scheme  which  was  partly  successful;  Lutheran  schools  were 
closed,  liberty  of  conscience  was  restricted,  and  the  Emperor 
sought  to  suppress  the  literature  published  by  the  Reformers 
in  two  decrees : — he  suspended  all  printing  presses  except  two 

197 


at  Olmiitz,  and  ordered  that  all  books  sold  in  Moravia  should 
first  be  approved  by  a  certain  bigoted  censor. 

Nevertheless,  Rudolph  was  a  grievous  disappointment  to 
the  intriguing  Jesuits,  owing  to  his  vacillating  conduct,  and 
his  engrossing  devotion  to  science  and  art  within  the  pre- 
cincts of  the  palace  on  the  Hradschin.  His  unreliability  as  an 
opponent  of  Protestantism  was  shown  by  his  willingness  to 
meet  persons  of  that  faith  in  friendly  discourse  on  his  favorite 
studies,  and  notably  by  his  inviting  to  his  court  Kepler,  who 
had  been  driven  out  of  Gratz  on  account  of  his  adherence  to 
the  reformed  faith.  Moreover  among  Rudolph's  devoted  sup- 
porters were  several  Protestant  princes. 

The  death  of  the  influential  William  von  Rosenberg,  in 
1592,  was  a  great  blow  to  the  Jesuit  party,  for  he  was  suc- 
ceeded by  his  nephew  whose  wife  induced  him  to  join  the 
Brotherhood.  About  the  same  time  Rudolph  dismissed  from 
office  another  champion  of  the  Catholics,  George  von  Lobko- 
witz,  transferring  his  estates  to  a  man  who  was  supposed  to 
be  a  zealous  Catholic,  but  who  proved  to  be  friendly  to  the 
Lutherans. 

With  advancing  years  Rudolph's  weakness  as  a  ruler  be- 
came more  conspicuous,  his  innate  shy  and  melancholy  dis- 
position assuming  a  suspiciously  morbid  phase;  he  grew 
hypochondriacal,  irritable,  and  sometimes  his  mental  condi- 
tion bordered  on  insanity.  As  the  poet  expresses  it: 

"Melancholy  is  the  nurse  of  frenzy." 

His  jester  failed  to  amuse  him,  the  little  sense  of  humor  in 
his  disposition  abandoned  him.  His  condition  was  aggra- 
vated by  increasing  aversion  to  bodily  exercise  of  any  kind; 
he  had  always  been  phlegmatic  and  never  had  taken  much 
interest  in  manly  sports  other  than  tennis  and  the  chase, 
and  now  he  disliked  to  undertake  even  short  journeys  from 
Prague,  though  a  visit  to  the  distant  provinces  of  his  exten- 

198 


sive  Empire  would  have  been  politic  and  might  have  allayed 
growing  discontent  among  his  subjects.  He  lived  in  a  little 
world  of  his  own,  doing  nothing  to  control  the  public  move- 
ments for  weal  or  for  woe  taking  place  in  his  dominions,  and 
naturally  events  marched  forward  against  his  interests.  He 
had  fallen  into  the  habit  of  postponing  for  weeks  and  even 
months  decisions  on  affairs  of  state  that  demanded  immediate 
action ;  he  shortened  more  and  more  his  visits  to  the  Privy 
Council,  and  in  place  of  manfully  grappling  with  problems 
of  public  policy,  be  amused  himself  in  directing  the  labors  of 
alchemists,  in  studing  astrology  and  botany,  as  well  as  in 
.the  more  active  pursuits  of  carving  in  wood,  painting  on 
canvas  and  polishing  precious  stones. 

Rudolph  lived  in  terror  of  apparitions  and  was  a  victim 
to  superstitious  fears  of  death;  these  were  exaggerated  in 
part  by  a  prophecy  made  by  Tycho  Brahe.  Both,  the  Em- 
peror and  the  astronomer  were  greatly  impressed  by  the  as- 
sassination of  Henry  III  of  France,  in  1589,  by  a  monk 
named  Jacques  Clement,  and  a  similar  fate  was  thought  to 
await  Rudolph. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  seventeenth  century  the  aggres- 
siveness of  the  war-loving  and  Christian-hating  Turks  on  the 
borders  of  Hungary  combined  with  the  civil  and  political  dis- 
orders in  Bohemia  to  increase  the  perplexity  of  the  crown, 
and  at  the  same  time  did  not  decrease  the  indifference  of 
Rudolph  to  his  duties  as  Emperor.  Disregarding  the  fact  that 

"The  king  who  delegates 
His  pow'r  to  other  hands,  but  ill  deserves 
The  crown  he  wears," 

he  entrusted  military  operations  against  the  Mahommedans 
to  his  brother  Matthias,  whereupon  the  Austrian  Archdukes 
conspired  to  force  Rudolph  to  abdicate  and  to  seat  Matthias 

109 


on  the  throne.  Believing  that  the  Protestants  were  instiga- 
tors of  this  effort  to  undermine  his  power,  Rudolph  resorted 
to  stringent  and  irritating  measures  directed  against  them; 
meanwhile  an  insurrection  broke  out  in  Hungary,  and  dis- 
asters rapidly  succeeded  which  led  to  the  deposition  of  the 
Emperor  by  the  Bohemian  Assembly  in  April  1611,  Matthias 
being  crowned  in  his  stead.  Just  before  his  abdication,  Ru- 
dolph is  said  to  have  looked  out  of  a  window  of  the  palace 
on  the  Hradschin,  and  to  have  exclaimed: 

"Prague,  O  unthankful  Prague!    Thou  who  hast  been  so  highly 
elevated  by  me,  now  thou  spurnest  thy  benefactor;  may  the 
curse  and  vegeance  of  God  fall  on  thee  and  on  all  Bohemia!" 

The  deposed  monarch,  now  enfeebled  in  body  and  mind,, 
was  allowed  to  reside  in  Prague  and  was  awarded  a  pension 
of  400,000  florins  together  with  certain  productive  estates. 
Early  in  the  year  1612,  his  pet  lion  Ottakar  fell  sick  and 
died,  an  event  regarded  by  .Rudolph  as  a  fatal  omen,  for 
Tycho  Brahe  years  before  had  stated  that  the  lion  and  the 
Emperor  were  subject  to  the  same  celestial  influences.  Rudolph 
breathed  his  last  on  the  morning  of  the  20th  of  January, 
1612,  and  the  court  decided  to  keep  his  death  a  secret  until 
his  brother  Matthias  had  reached  the  Capital.  Kaspar  Rucky 
von  Rudz,  one  of  the  Emperor's  valets  and  alchemists,  whom 
we  met  at  the  Rudolphine  Academy  of  Medicine,  took  advan- 
tage of  this  opportunity  to  steal  all  the  powder  of  projection 
and  the  alchemistical  gold  that  he  could  lay  his  hands  on, 
ransacking  the  royal  laboratories  and  the  cabinet  of  curiosi- 
ties. This  bold  theft  became  known  to  the  Prime  Minister 
almost  immediately,  and  Rucky,  with  several  other  retainers, 
were  arrested  and  imprisoned. 

Being  threatened  with  the  horrible  torture  of  the  rack, 
Rucky  hung  himself  in  his  dungeon  by  the  aid  of  the  cord 

200 


that  was  ordinarily  used  to  hang  around  his  waist  the  huge 
keys  of  his  office.  His  body  was  delivered  to  the  executioner 
who  transported  it  to  the  usual  place  of  judgment,  a  public 
square  in  the  Hradschin  quarter,  where  he  hacked  the  body 
to  pieces,  cut  off  the  hands  and  feet  and  gouged  out  the 
tongue  and  heart ;  the  mutilated  remains  were  then  buried. 
In  spite  of  this  public  execution  the  people  living  in  the  pre- 
cincts of  the  Castle  maintained  that  Rucky's  ghost  still  wan- 
dered about  the  buildings  and  had  been  seen  riding  a  goat, 
accompanied  by  six  cats ;  to  appease  this  popular  clamor  the 
body  was  afterwards  dug  up  and  burned. 

Rudolph's  death  brought  troublous  times  to  several  other 
members  of  the  court,  many  were  arrested  for  political  rea- 
sons, including  the  antiquarians  Froschel  and  Hans  Hey  den, 
the  librarian  Hastal,  and  the  artist  Johann  Kiirbach  who 
was  a  baptized  Jew.  Besides  these  the  discoverer  of  perpetual 
motion,  Cornelius  Drebbel,  was  temporarily  incarcerated. 

Rudolph  II.  of  Germany  never  married,  though  he  sent 
ambassadors  to  the  royal  courts  of  several  nations  to  make 
inquiries  about  marriageable  Princesses,  and  he  is  said  to 
have  been  betrothed  at  different  times  to  the  Infanta  Isabella, 
to  Maria  de  Medici,  to  a  Princess  of  Lothringen,  to  a 
daughter  of  the  Archduke  Carl  and  to  a  daughter  of  the 
Grand  Duke  of  Russia. 

Rudolph's  whole  reign  of  thirty-five  years  was  marked  by 
persecutions  and  intolerance  on  his  side  and  by  discontent 
and  insurrection  on  that  of  his  subjects,  yet  Bohemia  is  cre- 
dited with  attaining  under  his  rule  the  ' 'golden  period"  of 
its  existence;  perhaps  this  gold  was  no  more  genuine  than 
that  produced  in  the  crucibles  of  his  alchemists. 

Partisan  historians,  attempting  to  establish  the  verity  of 
transmutation,  narrate  that  Rudolph  II.  left  twenty-four 
hundred  weight  of  gold  and  sixty  hundred  weight  of  silver 

201 


in  the  form  of  bricks,  incontestable  witnesses  of  his  success 
as  a  disciple  of  Hermes.  The  facts  are  that  after  Rudolph's 
death  Matthias  had  an  inventory  made  of  the  art  treasures 
in  the  palace,  and  the  commission  reported  finding  gold  and 
silver  articles  weighing  twenty -four,  and  sixty  hundred  weight 
respectively ;  this  did  not  include  the  silver  dishes,  the  precious 
stones  and  pearls,  and  other  valuable  objects,  so  that  the 
value  of  the  entire  treasure  was  set  at  seventeen  millions. 

Augustus,  Elector  of  Saxony,  is  likewise  said  to  have  left 
several  millions  of  thalers  in  his  alchemical  laboratory,  and 
after  the  death  of  Pope  John  XXII.  in  1334,  no  less  than 
two  hundred  ingots  of  gold  each  weighing  one  hundred 
pounds  were  found  in  secret  storage;  by  such  specious  tales 
were  people  in  the  sixteenth  and  seventeenth  centuries 
strengthened  in  their  belief  in  alchemy  and  in  the  other  Follies 
of  Science. 


202 


CHAPTER  XIX. 
DECLINE  OF  THE  FOLLIES  OF  SCIENCE. 

"Ye  Rosicrucian  schools, 

Ye  number-prickers,  ye  physiognomists, 

Ye  dream-expounding,  treasure-seeking  fools, 

Alchemists,  magnetizers,  kabbalists! 

Ye  're  wrong!" 

Hellgren. 

|HE  QUADRATURE  of  the  circle,  the  multiplication 
of  the  cube,  perpetual  motion,  judicial  astrology, 
alchemy  and  magic  have  been  characterized  as  the 
"Six  Follies  of  Science."  While  a  great  deal  of 
time  and  energy  were  wasted  by  intellectual  men  in  these 
studies  and  chimerical  pursuits,  it  must  be  admitted  that 
these  follies  gave  great  impetus  to  the  progress  of  true  learn- 
ing. The  study  of  abstruse  problems  in  pure  mathematics 
even  though  non-solvable,  attempts  to  construct  mechanical 
devices  on  principles  opposed  to  a  fundamental  law  of  nature, 
erroneous  conceptions  of  the  relation  of  celestial  phenomena 
to  mundane  affairs,  the  vain  quest  for  the  Philosophers' 
Stone,  the  Elixir  of  Life  and  the  riches  and  bodily  vigor  they 
would  ensure,  even  the  painful  degradations  of  a  false 
philosophy  exhibited  in  magic  and  sorcery,  each  contri- 
buted its  quota  to  the  advancement  of  human  knowledge 
on  rational  lines.  The  period  of  tutelage  has  its  drawbacks, 

203 


and  these  sophistries  during  their  sway  fostered  superstitions 
that  inflicted  much  misery  on  mankind,  which  was  gradually 
being  prepared  for  the  appreciation  of  a  rational  philosophy 
and  the  benefits  flowing  from  its  practical  applications. 

The  decline  of  the  follies  which  had  attached  themselves 
to  the  sciences  like  barnacles  to  a  ship's  bottom,  progressed 
in  the  ratio  in  which  truths  were  revealed  by  experimenters 
in  the  several  fields;  workers  with  telescopes,  microscopes, 
dissecting  knives,  ^retorts,  balances,  thermometers,  barometers, 
and  somewhat  later,  with  air-pumps  and  electrical  machines, 
strove  to  interpret  the  phenomena  of  nature,  instead  of  blindly 
following  dogmatic  assertions  made  in  by-gone  ages,  and 
applied  to  the  accumulating  observations  the  principles  of  the 
inductive  philosophy,  thus  brushing  away  the  barnacles  that 
befouled  the  ship  of  science,  long  anchored  in  sluggish  waters, 
so  that  with  polished  sides  and  favoring  breezes  she  glided 
rapidly  through  the  channels  of  reason  into  the  harbor  of 
truth.  To  enumerate  the  superstitions  abandoned  one  by  one, 
would  be  superfluous;  the  progress  towards  truth  is  better 
reviewed  by  describing  the  instruments  used  to  free  the  vessel 
from  obstructions,  to-wit,  the  influences  that  effected  the  im- 
proved conditions  and  speeded  the  boat  towards  her  destina- 
tion. 

The  sixteenth  century  witnessed  some  of  the  most  moment- 
ous events  in  the  history  of  the  world  and  gave  birth  to  men 
of  superior  intellectual  endowments ;  the  discovery  of  America 
at  the  close  of  the  preceding  century  prepared  the  way  for 
its  exploration  and  occupation  in  the  sixteenth,  opening  up 
new  fields  of  enterprise  to  the  old  world;  the  Reformation 
established  the  liberty  of  conscience  and  revived  an  evangeli- 
cal spirit  of  Christianity ;  though  the  invention  of  printing 
dated  from  the  middle  of  the  fifteenth  century,  the  wonderful 
power  of  the  printing  press  in  the  diffusion  of  knowledge 

204 


made  itself  felt  at  the  beginning  of  the  epoch  of  which  we 
write,  and  accomplished  marvels  in  the  abatement  of  super- 
stition. The  most  pflfcctivp  Rffent,  however,  in  exterminating 
the  superstitious  features  of  natural  science  was  the  intro- 
dulrHoirjntoevery  branch  of  study  of  the  experimental  method 
of  investigation. 

^TEe  doctrines  of  astrology  were  being  gradually  under- 
mined by  discoveries  of  astronomical  laws  at  variance  with 
the  ancient  theories ;  although  Tycho  Brahe  and  John  Kepler, 
to  amuse  and  oblige  their  eccentric  patron  Rudolph,  practiced 
divination  by  the  stars,  they  were  formulating  at  the  same 
time  the  fundamental  laws  of  their  motions,  laws  which 
demonstrated  the  fallacy  of  a  belief  in  the  correlation  of  pla- 
nets and  terrestrial  events,  either  national  or  personal.  When 
Brahe  calculated  the  path  of  the  comet  of  1577  he  proved 
that  the  stars,  sun  and  planets  could  not  possibly  be  carried 
around  in  huge  spheres  of  impenetrable  crystal,  revolving, 
orb  within  orb,  every  twenty -four  hours.  When  Kepler  by 
severe  mathematical  analysis  defended  the  system  of  Coper- 
nicus, the 

"Best  endow'd  and  bravest  Pole  of  Poles," 

he  had  to  combat  the  prevalent  notion  that  each  planet  is 
directed  in  its  movements  and  carried  around  the  earth  by 
an  angel;  "in  that  case,"  he  said,  "the  orbits  would  be  per- 
fectly circular,  but  the  elliptic  form  which  we  find  in  them 
rather  smacks  of  the  lever  and  material  necessity." 

"Kopernik  fix'd  the  Sun,  the  work  began; 
And  Kepler  raised  the  time-infolding  plan." 

Alchemy,  after  astrology,  probably  contributed  more  di- 
rectly than  any  other  of  the  six  follies  of  science  towards  the 
advancement  of  the  genuine  science  associated  with  it.  The 
zealous  searchers  for  the  secrets  of  transmutation,  stimulated 

205 


by  golden  hopes,  laboring  with  an  industry  and  perseverance 
in  difficulties  worthy  of  imitation,  acquired  great  skill  in 
manipulation,  becoming  familiar  with  solution,  crystallization, 
and  sublimation,  as  a  means  of  purifying  solids,  with  distilla- 
tion of  liquids,  and  particularly  with  all  operations  involving 
the  management  of  fire.  'By  mixing  all  known  chemicals  in 
divers  ways  and  treating  these  mixtures  in  every  conceivable 
manner,  though  intelligent  system  was  lacking,  alchemists  ob- 
tained hundreds  of  substances,  many  of  which  became  indis- 
pensable agents  in  medicine,  pharmacy,  manufactures  and 
household  economy. 

To  enumerate  the  gifts  of  alchemy  to  chemical  science 
would  necessitate  chronicling  the  history  of  the  latter  for 
centuries;  before  alchemists  began  their  labors  only  seven 
metals  were  recognized,  and  as  there  were  seven  days  in  the 
week  and  seven  planets,  this  branch  of  knowledge  was  thought 
to  be  complete ;  a  Benedictine  monk,  however,  working  with 
athanors  and  crucibles  added  bismuth  and  antimony,  and 
Paracelsus  is  credited  with  first  recognizing  zinc  as  a  distinct 
metal;  more  important  than  the  recognition  of  a  metallic 
substance  was  the  discovery  of  the  preparation  of  the  mineral 
acids,  whose  power  became  known  in  alchemical  days. 

While  in  search  of  the  Philosophers'  stone  a  poor  shoe- 
maker of  Bologna,  Vincentius  Casciorolus  by  name,  discovered 
in  1602  the  wonderful  substance  long  known  as  the  Bologna 
stone,  having  the  property  of  emitting  phosphorescent  light 
in  the  dark;  about  seventy  years  later  another  disciple  of 
Hermes,  a  merchant  of  Hamburg  named  Brandt,  obtained  in 
his  retort  the  Phosphorus  which  possessed  the  same  property 
to  a  superlative  degree;  and  ten  years  later  Godfrey  Hanck- 
witz,  a  laboratory  assistant  to  the  eminent  philosopher 
Robert  Boyle,  himself  a  dabbler  in  alchemy,  made  with  this 
miracle-working  phosphorus  the  first  friction  matches.  A 

206 


German  alchemist  Botticher,  imprisoned  in  the  royal  castle 
of  Konigstein  for  numerous  attempts  to  swindle  his  Highness, 
the  Elector  of  Saxony,  happily  saved  himself  from  severer 
punishment  by  discovering  the  process  of  manufacturing  por- 
celain, justly  celebrated  as  Dresden  porcelain  to  this  day. 

The  Hollander,  Cornelius  Drebbel,  after  leaving  Prague, 
discovered  the  superb  red  dyestuff  obtained  by  the  action  of 
tinsalts  on  cochineal;  this  preparation  of  tin  having  been 
itself  discovered  thirty  years  before  by  another  alchemist  and 
long  called  by  his  name  the  "fuming  liquor  of  Libavius." 

"The  search  itself  rewards  the  pains ; 

So  though  the  chymist  his  great  secret  miss, 

For  neither  it  in  art  nor  nature  is, 

Yet  things  well  worth  his  toil  he  gains, 

And  does  his  charge  and  labor  pay 

With  good  unsought  experiments  by  the  way." 

The  mediaeval  alchemists  are  credited  also  with  being  the 
first  to  seize  the  grand  idea  of  evolution  in  its  widest  extent 
as  a  "progress  from  the  imperfect  to  the  more  perfect,  in- 
cluding lifeless  as  well  as  living  nature  in  an  unceasing  pro- 
gression, in  which  all  things  take  part,  towards  a  higher  and 
nobler  state.  In  this  slow  development  nature  has  no  need 
to  hasten,  she  has  eternity  to  work  in;  it  is  for  us  to  ascer- 
tain the  favoring  conditions  and  by  imitating  them  or 
increasing  them  to  accelerate  the  work."  (Draper.) 

The  contributions  to  chemical  science  made  by  the  inde- 
fatigable alchemists  were  not  appreciated  in  their  day  and 
failed  to  demolish  the  belief  in  transmutation,  because  the 
isolated  discoveries  were  not  correlated  by  general  laws ;  it 
is  true  that  the  alchemists  propounded  a  theory  that  three 
principles,  designated  symbolically  as  "salt,"  "sulfur"  and 
"mercury,"  were  the  basis  of  all  substances,  but  it  remained 
for  Becher  and  Stahl  in  the  seventeenth  century  to  formulate 

207 


the  theory  of  " Phlogiston,"  which,  though  weak  and  falser 
greatly  promoted  the  scientific  aspects  of  chemistry  and  con- 
tributed to  its  divorce  from  the  supernatural. 

Technical  chemistry  received  an  invaluable  gift  from 
Bernard  Palissy  the  famous  French  artist  in  earthenware, 
who  died  about  the  time  Rudolph  was  bestowing  favors  upon 
the  unworthy  "Golden  Knight.'*  After  twenty-five  years  of 
persevering  toil,  "groping  for  glazes  like  a  man  in  the  dark," 
Palissy  discovered  the  white  glaze  which  was  the  basis  of  all 
the  others,  and  his  genius  for  artistic  effects  produced  the 
superb  ware  for  which  he  is  famous.  Being  an  earnest  student 
of  natural  history,  he  decorated  his  vases  and  dishes  with 
imitations  of  shells,  fishes,  reptiles,  etc.,  made  by  taking  casts 
of  the  objects  themselves.  He  also  did  much  to  abate  the 
superstitions  regarding  the  fossil  shells  found  in  the  rocks  of 
the  tertiary  near  Paris;  these  were  supposed  to  be  either 
proofs  of  the  universal  deluge  or  shells  dropped  by  the  Cru- 
saders returning  from  the  Holy  Land,  but  Palissy  boldly 
maintained  that  they  were  the  actual  remains  of  once  living 
marine  animals.  Palissy  wrote  in  French  of  great  vigor, 
simplicity  and  perspicuity,  and  his  works  have  been  greatly 
admired  by  posterity;  his  naturalness  in  studying  the  book 
of  nature  with  great  modesty,  yet  with  confidence,  has  set 
an  example  to  all  who  would  promote  the  separation  of 
superstition  from  science. 

Although  pure  mathematics  was  not  barnacled  with 
superstitious  growths,  its  advances  may  be  briefly  noted,  for 
it  lies  at  the  foundation  of  all  physical  science.  A  Franciscan 
friar  of  Italian  birth,  Lucas  de  Borgo,  (also  called  Pacioli), 
who  taught  mathematics  in  Naples,  Venice  and  Milan,  pub- 
lished several  treatises  on  arithmetic,  algebra  and  geometry 
about  the  middle  of  the  sixteenth  century,  which  exerted  a 
marked  influence;  and  another  Italian,  Benedetto,  published 

208 


in  1585  at  Turin,  a  work  on  geometrical  analysis.  About 
the  same  time  Simon  Stevin,  of  Flanders,  enriched  arithmetic 
by  the  invention  of  decimal  fractions.  Algebra  was  improved 
by  the  genius  of  Jerome  Cardanus,  and  especially  by  Viete  of 
France,  who  introduced  the  use  of  letters  of  the  alphabet  to 
represent  known  quantities,  thus  facilitating  the  expression 
of  general  truths.  The  signs  plus  +  and  minus  —  were  first 
used  in  a  mathematical  work  published  in  1544,  and  the 
sign  equality  =,  appeared  three  years  later  in  an  English 
algebra  by  Robert  Recorde.  The  important  invention  of 
logarithms  by  the  student  of  astrology,  John  Napier,  Baron 
of  Merchiston,  of  Scotland,  was  not  publicly  announced  until 
1618 ;  while  the  influence  of  the  genius  of  Descartes  was  not 
felt  until  the  middle  of  the  same  century. 

The  foundations  of  the  science  of  mechanics  were  laid  by 
Jerome  Frascator,  Jerome  Cardanus  and  Ubaldo  del  Monte 
(1577),  but  this  mathematical  science  as  well  as  physics  was 
but  in  its  infancy  at  Rudolph's  time.  The  treatise  on 
Natural  Magic  written  by  the  precocious  youth  Giovanni 
Baptista  Porta  of  Naples  in  1560,  contained  evidence  that 
the  author  had  successfully  experimented  in  optics,  and  had 
constructed  apparatus  on  scientific  principles,  capable  of  pro- 
ducing such  marvellous  illusions  as  to  be  ascribed  to  magic. 
The  so-called  "magic  lantern"  is  often  attributed  to  Porta, 
but  he  had  been  anticipated  by  that  wonderful  master  of 
many  arts,  Leonardo  da  Vinci.  Porta's  treatise  which  went 
through  several  editions,  deals  much  with  lenses  and  mirrors 
of  various  kinds  and  seems  to  describe  vaguely  the  telescope; 
in  fact,  after  Galileo  had  perfected  the  instrument  known  as 
Galileo's  tube,  Porta  claimed  the  invention  as  his  own.  Porta 
was  indebted  to  the  Venetian  ecclesiastic,  statesman  and 
scientist  Fra  Paolo,  whose  real  name  was  Pietro  Sarpi,  for 
several  items  of  learning,  notably  those  concerning  the  pro- 

209 


perties  of  the  lodestone.  Sarpi  was  so  great  a  scholar  that 
Galileo  spoke  of  him  as  his  "master";  and  his  contemporaries 
say  he  was  profoundly  versed  in  the  "Hebrew  and  Greek 
languages,  mathematics,  astronomy,  history,  the  nutrition  of 
life  in  animals,  geometry  including  conic  sections,  magnetism, 
botany,  mineralogy,  hydraulics,  acoustics,  animal  statics, 
atmospheric  pressure,  the  rising  and  falling  of  objects  in  air 
and  \vater,  the  reflection  of  light  from  curved  surfaces, 
mechanics,  civil  and  military  architecture,  medicine,  herbs  and 
anatomy."  He  is  credited  with  anticipating  Harvey  in  the 
discovery  of  the  circulation  of  the  blood,  and  Kepler  in  certain 
optical  phenomena.  Unhappily  his  valuable  manuscripts  were 
destroyed  by  fire  in  1766,  and  the  extant  extracts  are  being 
tardily  appreciated  by  historians  of  science. 

The  foolishness  of  science  did  not  always  assume  debas- 
ing forms  like  judicial  astrology  and  sorcery,  but  was  char- 
acterized by  fervent  beliefs  in  the  false  assertions  of  venerated 
authorities  that  became  veritable  superstitions;  these  dog- 
mas were  endorsed  by  scholars  without  any  attempt  to  test 
their  verity,  until  some  independent  genius  arose,  who  broke 
loose  from  the  shackles  of  a  great  name  and  hardily  ventured 
to  ascertain  the  facts  for  himself.  In  this  way  the  dogma  of 
Aristotle,  that  the  heavier  of  two  bodies  falling  to  the  ground 
moves  faster  than  the  lighter  one,  was  disproved  by  Galileo 
in  experiments  made  from  the  top  of  the  Leaning  Tower  of 
Pisa.  So  blinded  were  the  Aristotelians,  that,  when  they  saw 
the  one  pound  weight  and  the  ten  pound  weight  strike  the 
ground  simultaneously,  they  asserted  as  strenuously  as  be- 
fore, that  the  weight  of  ten  pounds  would  have  reached  the 
ground  ten  times  as  quick  as  the  one  pound,  had  not  "the 
natural  velocities  been  interfered  with"  from  some  unknown 
cause. 

None  of  the  harmless  follies  of  science  were  more  firmly 

210 


established  in  the  estimation  of  philosophers  than  that  em- 
bodied in  the  assertion:  "Nature  abhors  a  vacuum;"  and 
when  in  1590  the  well-sinkers  of  the  Grand  Duke  of  Florence 
found  their  pumps  would  not  lift  the  water  out  of  a  well 
forty  feet  deep,  Galileo  was  applied  to  for  explanation  of  the 
difficulty  and  for  a  remedy.  The  great  man  is  said  to  have 
informed  the  workmen  that  nature's  abhorrence  of  a  vacuum 
did  not  extend  beyond  thirty -three  feet !  Galileo  himself  being 
unable  to  assign  the  true  reason,  which  was  afterwards 
determined  by  his  famous  pupil  Torricelli. 

In  the  last  year  of  the  sixteenth  century  an  English  phy- 
sician, Dr.  William  Gilbert,  published  a  book  that  laid  the 
firm  foundations  of  a  new  branch  of  physics,  electricity.  The 
familiar  behavior  of  a  magnet  in  attracting  particles  of  iron, 
and  of  amber  in  drawing  to  itself  bits  of  paper  and  light 
articles,  had  been  known  to  the  ancients,  but  Dr.  Gilbert  made 
a  thorough  experimental  study  of  these  and  related  pheno- 
mena, discovering  that  glass,  resins  and  certain  precious 
stones  had  the  same  property  as  amber.  He  also  demon- 
strated the  laws  of  magnetic  polarity  and  the  uses  of  arma- 
tures; and  while  he  deduced  no  general  law  he  announced 
the  theory  that  the  earth  itself  is  a  great  magnet.  This 
grand  monograph  worked  prodigies  in  removing  from  mag- 
netic phenomena  the  superstitions  clustering  around  them. 

Pliny's  Natural  History,  written  in  the  first  century, 
remained  the  unquestioned  authority  on  all  matters  pertain- 
ing to  plants,  animals  and  minerals  for  more  than  thirteen 
hundred  years,  and  was  responsible  for  a  mass  of  extra- 
ordinary superstitions,  many  of  which  lingered  as  "vulgar 
errors"  until  very  recent  times.  Pliny  transcribed  from  all 
known  writers  on  natural  history  the  most  absurd  tales  and 
made  no  effort  to  examine  their  authenticity;  he  peopled  the 
water,  land  and  air  with  fabulous  creatures  having  wonder- 

211 


ful  habits  and  powers,  and  he  described  imperfectly  well- 
known  animals  without  essaying  systematic  classification. 
This  "was  first  attempted  in  a  scientific  spirit  by  the  "German 
Pliny,"  Conrad  Gesner,  Professor  of  natural  history  at  Zurich, 
whose  "History  of  Animals,"  published  in  1551,  is  the  basis 
of  all  modern  zoology;  his  younger  contemporary,  Ulysses 
Aldrovandus,  who  held  the  chair  of  natural  history  at  Bo- 
logna, published  six  large  folio  volumes  illustrated  with 
wood  cuts  of  many  of  the  animals,  his  descriptions  being  in 
part  taken  from  the  work  of  Gesner.  Aldrovandus  founded 
a  museum  of  natural  history,  and  established  one  of  the 
earliest  of  botanical  gardens,  in  Bologna  (1567),  in  which 
medicinal  plants  were  especially  cultivated.  And  about  the 
same  time  Dr.  Pierre  Belon  in  France  published  a  most  im- 
portant treatise  on  birds  (1555);  Belon  resided  in  a  chateau 
near  Paris  given  him  by  the  reigning  sovereign  and  while 
collecting  plants  in  the  Bois  de  Boulogne  was  murdered  by 
highwaymen.  Another  French  physician,  Guillaume  Rondelet, 
was  engaged  at  this  period  on  a  complete  history  of  fishes 
(1558);  these  two  works  being  early  attempts  at  specializa- 
tion in  natural  history. 

The  labors  of  scientific  men  do  not  become  part  of  popular 
knowledge  in  their  generation,  and  correct  ideas  of  animals 
were  less  widely  held  than  .the  far  more  fascinating  notions 
of  fabulous  monsters;  credence  was  given  to  the  phoenix,  a 
bird  that  after  many  hundred  years  burned  herself  in  order 
that  another  might  arise  from  her  ashes ;  to  the  salamander 
that  lived  comfortably  in  the  hottest  of  fires;  and  to  the 
basilisk,  or  cockatrice,  a  monster  hatched  by  a  serpent,  or 
by  a  toad,  from  a  cock's  egg,  and  possessing  the  power  of 
killing  men  at  a  distance  by  venom  projected  from  its  eye:^ 

"Mischiefs  are  like  the  cockatrice's  eye; 

If  they  see  first,  they  kill;  if  seen  they  die." 

212 


According  to  popular  belief  ostriches  eat  and  digested 
iron ;  bears  licked  their  new-born  cubs  into  shape ;  moles  had 
no  eyes  and  elephants  no  knees;  the  swan  sings  before  it 
dies;  the  chameleon  lives  only  on  air;  the  fish  remora  swim- 
ming beneath  a  ship  retards  the  movements  of  the  vessel  as 
a  lodestone  attracts  iron;  and 

" The  toad,  ugly  and  venemous 

Wears  yet  a  precious  jewel  in  its  head." 

To  these  extraordinary  fancies  may  be  added  the  firmly 
grounded  belief  that  barnacles  growing  on  trees  fall  into 
water  and  are  transformed  into  geese;  lovely  mermaids  with 
captivating  manners  entice  men  to  their  destruction;  water- 
bulls  perform  terrifying  deeds;  while  preposterous  behavior 
was  attributed  to  young  vipers,  birds  of  paradise,  pelicans, 
tarantulas,  scorpions,  and  to  every  "living  creature  after  its 
kind,  creeping  thing  and  beast  of  the  earth."  The  temptation 
to  enumerate  more  of  the  barnacles  that  were  attached  to 
zoology  is  great  but  must  be  resisted. 

Pliny  in  his  Natural  History  included  botany,  enumerating 
six  hundred  plants,  and  commentators  in  the  sixteenth  cen- 
tury made  efforts  to  identify  the  imperfectly  described  species; 
physicians  using  botanical  remedies  felt  the  need  of  greater 
accuracy  and  began  to  form  collections  of  their  own,  and  to 
study  them  systematically.  The  first  to  suggest  the  classifi- 
cation by  classes,  order,  genera  and  species  was  Conrad 
Gesner  just  named.  During  the  sixteenth  century  many  treat- 
ises on  plants  appeared,  the  most  valuable  contributions 
being  made  by  Andrea  Caesalpinus,  Professor  of  Botany  at 
Padua,  who  proposed  a  sexual  classification,  and  by  the 
brothers  John  and  Gaspard  Bauhin  of  Switzerland,  one  of 
whom  published  a  systematic  index  to  plants  in  which  syno- 
nyms were  grouped  together. 

213 


The  establishment  of  botanical  gardens  in  the  sixteenth 
century  greatly  advanced  exact  knowledge  of  plants,  especially 
those  of  medicinal  value,  to  which  the  gardens  were  at  first 
limited.  Italy  was  early  in  the  field,  a  garden  at  Pisa  under 
the  care  of  Luca  Ghini  dated  from  1544;  Bologna,  Padua, 
Venice  soon  followed  suit,  and  the  University  of  Paris  began 
one  in  1558.  Germany  at  this  period  had  only  private  bota- 
nical gardens,  the  best  being  that  of  Dr.  Joachim  Camerarius 
at  Nuremburg.  Sinapius,  already  mentioned,  founded  the 
imperial  botanic  garden  under  Rudolph  II.,  which  was  after- 
wards in  charge  of  Charles  de  TEcluse,  of  Flanders. 

The  botanical  barnacles  were  nearly  as  numerous  as  the 
zoological,  but  these  have  been  noted  in  connection  with 
medicine,  for  plants  were  used  as  charms  against  misfortunes 
quite  as  much  as  for  remedies  in  sickness. 

In  1534,  Andreas  Vesalius,  a  Flemish  youth,  discrediting 
the  anatomical  descriptions  of  the  human  body  by  Galen, 
with  great  boldness  stole  the  corpse  of  a  criminal  hanging  in 
chains  on  a  gibbet  in  the  outskirts  of  Louvain,  and  at  immense 
risk  dissected  it  in  his  own '  bedroom ;  he  found  that  Galen 
had  based  his  account  on  the  examination  of  lower  animals, 
and  cautiously  continued  his  studies  which  resulted  nine  years 
later  in  a  classical  treatise  on  human  anatomy,  containing 
excellent  drawings  and  minute  descriptions  of  the  parts  of 
the  body.  Some  of  the  plates  in  this  magnificent  work- 
(De  httmani  corporis  fabrica,  1543.),  are  said  to  have  been 
designed  by  Titian ;  others  were  certainly  drawn  for  Yesalius 
by  his  countryman  Johann  Calcar,  then  a  pupil  of  Titian. 
Vesalius'  zeal  in  dissection  was  indirectly  the  cause  of  his 
death;  according  to  a  tradition,  denied  by  some  authors,  he 
was  condemned  to  death  for  having  opened  the  body  of  a 
Spaniard  before  the  sick  man  was  quite  dead.  The  sentence 
was  commuted  at  the  intervention  of  Philip  II.,  to  a  pilgrim- 

214 


age  to  the  Holy  Land.  On  his  return  from  this  journey 
Vesalius  was  shipwrecked  on  a  desert  part  of  the  island  of 
Zante,  and  died  of  hunger  and  neglect  in  1564. 

During  Vesalius*  occupancy  of  the  chair  of  anatomy  at 
the  University  of  Padua,  the  Medical  School  became  famous 
and  it  retained  its  celebrity  two  hundred  years.  Italy  being 
the  only  country  in  which  human  bodies  could  be  dissected 
without  legal  penalties,  anatomy  and  physiology  made  great 
strides  at  the  Universities  of  Padua,  Pisa,  Bologna,  and 
Naples.  Fallopius,  incredible  as  it  now  seems,  wrote  that 
the  Duke  of  Tuscany  was  obliging  enough  to  send  him  crim- 
inals, whom  he  killed  and  then  dissected.  To  sketch  the  pro- 
gress of  the  study  of  the  human  body  would  require  a 
volume;  Eustachius,  Arantius,  Verolius,  were  some  of  the 
great  names;  "Piccolomini  laid  the  foundations  of  general 
anatomy  by  his  descriptions  of  cellular  tissue,  Goiter  created 
pathological  anatomy,  Prosper  Alpinus  diagnosis,  Plater  the 
classification  of  disease,  and  Ambroise  Pare  modern  surgery." 

(Draper.) 

Fabricius  ab  Acquapendente  discovered  the  valves  in  the 
bloodvessels;  Michael  Servetus,  of  Yillanova  in  Aragon,  was 
one  of  the  first  to  revive  the  idea  of  pulmonary  circulation, 
but  his  talents  did  not  prevent  his  becoming  the  victim  of 
the  fanatical  John  Calvin,  at  whose  instigation  he  was  "very 
slowly  burned"  at  the  stake  for  heresy  in  1553. 

If  the  medical  school  at  Padua  had  done  nothing  else 
than  educate  the  Englishman,  William  Harvey,  its  existence 
would  be  justified;  Harvey's  prime  discovery  of  the  circula- 
tion of  the  blood  dates  from  about  1616,  when  he  began  to 
teach  it  to  his  pupils  in  London.  About  forty  years  later 
the  microscope  was  applied  to  anatomical  and  physiological 

investigations .,  but  this  superficial  survey  of  progress  in 

science  must  be  closed ,  for  two  more  events  of  great  influence 

215 


demand  brief  notice,  namely,  the  foundation  of  scientific 
societies  and  the  introduction  of  Baconian  philosophy. 

The  Academia  Secretorum  Naturae  was  founded  at  Naples 
in  1560  by  Giovanni  Baptista  Porta,  and  the  Accademia  dei 
Lincei  at  Rome  in  1603  by  Prince  Frederigo  Cesi.  The  for- 
mer was  chiefly  made  up  of  a  small  circle  of  Porta's  friends 
devoted  to  pursuits  like  his  own  and  who  met  to  discuss 
new  experiments;  the  society  encountered  opposition  from 
ecclesiastics  but  cautiously  avoided  furnishing  the  Church  pre- 
tense for  persecution.  The  Lyncean  Academy  began  as  a  sort 
of  club  of  only  four  members,  but  it  afterwards  opened  its 
doors  to  "philosophers  eager  for  real  knowledge,  who  will 
give  themselves  to  the  study  of  nature  and  especially  to 
mathematics;"  at  the  same  time  they  were  not  to  neglect 
"the  ornaments  of  elegant  literature  and  philology,  which, 
like  a  graceful  garment  adorn  the  whole  body  of  science. 'r 
Galileo  became  one  of  the  distinguished  members  of  this 
society. 

The  renowned  Accademia  del  Cimento  was  founded  at 
Florence  nearly  fifty  years  later,  but  even  this  preceded  the 
British  Royal  Society  by  five  years  and  the  French  Academic 
des  Sciences  by  nine.  The  influence  of  these  societies  in  promot- 
ing the  advancement  of  science  was  immense,  but  the  most 
aggressive  foe  to  superstition,  the  most  efficacious  instrument 
in  removing  the  barnacles  of  folly,  was  the  method  of  rea- 
soning embodied  in  the  inductive  philosophy,  which  became 
the  only  recognized  system  pursued  by  the  members  of  these 
societies  as  well  as  by  independent  investigators. 

Francis  Bacon,  Lord  Chancellor  of  England,  who  was 
very  nearly  a  contemporary  of  Rudolph  II,  being  however 
nine  years  younger,  is  often  credited  with  the  invention  of 
the  "Baconian"  philosophy  socalled,  but  the  principles  of  the 
system  had  been  distinctly  expressed  by  Leonardo  da  Vinci » 

216 


and  had  been  applied  in  their  researches  by  William  Gilbert , 
Bernard  Palissy,  Copernicus,  Tycho  Brahe,  and  other  success- 
ful scientists.  Lord  Bacon,  however,  was  the  first  to  analyse 
the  inductive  methods  of  reasoning  and  to  insist  that  this 
system  is  the  only  proper  basis  on  which  to  build  scientific 
truths;  moreover,  he  explained  the  method  in  a  powerful 
work  devoted  to  the  purpose,  the  "Novum  Organum  Scien- 
tiarum,"  published  in  1620.  The  prevailing  opinions  had 
been  ''founded  on  vague  and  insufficient  observations,  and 
often  they  were  nothing  better  than  preconceived  ideas  and 
assumptions  so  fantastical  that  nothing  but  the  prescription 
of  authority  and  the  sanction  of  antiquity  could  ever  have 
secured  their  acceptance  by  successive  generations  of  thinking 
men,"  but  the  application  of  Baconian  principles  effected  a 
revolution  of  lasting  benefit  to  science. 

"From  these  and  all  long  errors  of  the  way, 

In  which  our  wandering  predecessors  went, 

And,  like  the  old  Hebrews,  many  years  did  stray 

In  deserts,  but  of  small  extent,— 

BACON,  like  Moses,  led  us  forth  at  last ; 

The  barren  wilderness  he  passed; 

Did  in  the  very  border  stand 

Of  the  blest  promised  land. 

And  from  the  mountain's  top  of  his  exalted  wit 

Saw  it  himself,  and  showed  us  it. 

But  life  did  never  to  one  man  allow 

Time  to  discover  worlds,  and  conquer  too: 

Nor  can  so  short  a  time  sufficient  be 

To  fathom  the  vast  depths  of  Nature's  sea." 


OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY 

OF 


217 


"The  scientific  spirit  has  cast  out  the  demons  and 
presented  us  with  Nature,  clothed  in  her  right  mind  and 
living  under  the  reign  of  law.  It  has  given  us  for  the 
sorceries  of  the  alchemist  the  beautiful  laws  of  chemistry; 
for  the  dreams  of  the  astrologer,  the  sublime  truths  of 
astronomy;  for  the  wild  visions  of  cosmogony  the  monu- 
mental records  of  geology;  for  the  anarchy  of  diabolism, 
the  laws  of  God/' 

JAMES   ABRAM   GARFIELD. 


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